Boy jailed for rape of teenager who killed herself

A teenage rapist whose victim killed herself after she gave evidence against him was jailed yesterday for four years.

The 15-year-old, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was said by the judge to have "a great number of problems" and to be a "risk to females particularly in sexual matters".

Lindsay Armstrong, 17, took an overdose three weeks after she was questioned in the witness box at her attacker's trial. She had to hold up the underwear she wore on the night she was raped and said afterwards she felt as if her character had been on trial.

Yesterday, her attacker was sentenced at Glasgow High Court. He had been convicted of rape on 26 June.

In addition to the four-year jail term, Lord McEwan ordered he serve a further three years under supervision and that his name be placed on the sex offenders register.

Lindsay's parents, Linda and Frank, of New Cumnock, Ayrshire, blamed what their daughter had gone through at the two-week trial for her death. Mrs Armstrong found her daughter dead in bed on 16 June. The teenager had taken an overdose of anti- depressants, prescribed to help her through the trial.

Mr Armstrong, a machine operator, said his daughter's ordeal in court had made her feel as if she were a prostitute. "When I think about what Lindsay went through – not just with the rape, but having to go through it all again in court – it tears me apart."

The family had hoped that her attacker, who was aged 14 at the time and known to Lindsay, would spare her the ordeal of giving evidence.

The Armstrongs, who have two other children, Claire, 22, and Damon, 16, said the final straw had been when Lindsay was forced to hold up in court the G-string she was wearing on the night of the attack. She was assaulted on 7 September last year, weeks after celebrating good exam results.