Man guilty of raping pregnant woman in maternity hospital

A rectangle-shaped grey sign on an exterior, stone block wall of the High Court in Edinburgh. The sign has a royal crest and the words: "High Court of Justiciary".Image source, Getty Images
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The High Court in Edinburgh heard that Brian Thomson attacked a pregnant woman in an Edinburgh hospital in June 1980

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A man has been found guilty of raping a pregnant woman in a maternity hospital more than 45 years ago.

A court heard Brian Thomson, 67, carried out the attack at the Elsie Inglis Maternity Hospital, in the Abbeyhill area of Edinburgh, in June 1980.

Thomson also abused a seven-year-old girl in 1970, when he was 12, and subjected her to indecent assaults and rape over a seven-year period.

A jury at the High Court in Edinburgh found the sex offender guilty of three rape charges spanning the period from 1970 to 1999. He will be sentenced next month.

After the attack at the hospital - which closed in 1988 - Thomson went on to repeatedly rape the woman at addresses in Musselburgh and Port Seton, in East Lothian.

Following the verdicts the court heard that Thomson, of Edinburgh, had one previous conviction for a minor offence from 20 years ago.

Judge Alison Stirling remanded him in custody and called for a background report to be prepared on him.

She told jurors a jail sentence was inevitable.

The judge added: "It has been a difficult and anxious case for you."

Thomson was placed on the sex offenders register.

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