Spotlight on Sentencing

Here's another case where if you ask me, Scotland's criminal justice system is failing to protect the public.

The record appears to show that this violent serial offender, Alexander Gallagher, was given a five year prison sentence for armed robbery and assault in 1997, but was granted early release only to attack and rape a woman, a complete stranger, as she sat in her car - just ten days after he got out of jail.

Now you would imagine that this would have resulted in such a violent man being sent back to prison for a very long time, possibly life, but Gallagher received only a ten year sentence and appears to have been back on the streets by 2013.  

In February 2013, Gallagher was realised from prison again on licence, presumably because he was placed on the sex offenders register in 2000, only to breach his bail conditions which resulted in a further appearance in court in March 2013. 

But Gallagher was granted bail again despite breaching the sex offences order and five days later he violently attacked and raped another woman at her home in Glasgow.     


Tagged rapist Alexander Gallagher guilty of new attack

BBC news
A convicted rapist has been found guilty of raping another woman while wearing an electronic tag.

Alexander Gallagher, 41, attacked his 34-year-old victim at her home in Glasgow on 23 March last year.

He was released on licence from a 10-year jail term for rape on 22 February and tagged but was back in court after breaching bail conditions on 18 March.

Gallagher carried out the attack five days later after he was granted bail for breaching the sex offences order.

At the High Court in Glasgow, sentence on Gallagher was deferred.

Victim silenced

The trial heard how Gallagher had been at the woman's flat in Glasgow's south side with another man.

Gallagher insisted they were "having a jolly" listening to music before the woman went to bed.

He told the jury he later joined her in the bedroom before claiming they became "intimate".

However, the victim told a different story and recalled how Gallagher forced her to have sex - and then stuffed a bag in her mouth to try and silence her screams.

Her terrifying ordeal also involved her being punched in the face, flung around the room and assaulted with a torch.

She was left battered and bruised as Gallagher later walked out of the flat.

Gallagher denied the rape charge at the trial and claimed the woman willingly had sex with him.

Prosecutor Sheena Fraser later challenged him about the victim being heard "screaming" during the attack.

Gallagher replied: "It was just noises from sex, nothing more. We were having consensual sex."

'Moment of madness'

Ms Fraser went on: "Why did you put a carrier bag in her mouth to gag her?" He told the trial: "That didn't happen."

Gallagher went on to claim he hit the woman after they had sex - but only because she had assaulted him during a row over a phone.

Ms Fraser said it was clear he had "lost his temper". Gallagher replied: "You could say that. I hit her because of the pain I felt in my arm. It was a moment of madness that I deeply regret. I am not angry all the time."

After the guilty verdict, the jury were told of Gallagher's criminal past.

He was locked up for five years for assault and robbery in 1997.

Just 10 days after being freed early in 2000, Gallagher then raped a mother-of-two as she sat in her car in Stirling.

He was jailed for 10 years, but also ordered to serve the remainder of his five year jail-term from the previous offence.

Prosecutors have also moved to have a risk assessment carried out on Gallagher which could see him made subject to an Order for Lifelong Restriction.