Victim protests over rapist's move to open prison

Mark Adams was already serving seven years for a rape in London when he was convicted in Edinburgh

A woman who was raped during the Edinburgh Fringe Festival has started a petition to protest against her attacker being moved to an open prison.

Former Downing Street aide Mark Adams was sentenced to a total of 14 years for rape and sexual assault in 2019.

However, after just four years, he has been moved from a Category A prison to a Category D facility.

He is now eligible for visits into the community, progressing to unescorted overnight leave.

His victim, whom the BBC is not naming to protect her identity, said Adams was a serial rapist who should not be allowed to move back into the community in any way, shape, or form.

• Former PM's aide jailed for second rape

• Former PM's aide jailed for rape

She said he was a danger to young women and should remain in a Category A prison.

She added that she was not consulted on the move.

Adams was convicted four years ago of luring the woman, who was then a teenager, into a camper van as she walked home during the Fringe in August 2017.

The 56-year-old raped her on a mattress on the floor of the vehicle.

By the time he was convicted, Adams was already serving seven years for a rape in London in 2015.

He was also convicted of a sexual assault in Wales in 2018.

'Everything went black'

Recounting her ordeal, the woman said: "I was visibly intoxicated and I sat down at the side of the road to take a breather and to rest my feet.

"That was when a man approached me and tried to lure me into his van. I protested and refused but he then proceeded to reassure me that he was a taxi driver and would get me home safe.

"I got in thinking it was a private cab and when I reached the back it had been kitted out with a mattress and blacked-out windows. And unfortunately that is when everything went black."

Adams was found guilty after forcing his victim to relive her ordeal at a trial.

Passer-by James Campbell, 50, who saw the victim shortly after the rape, told the court: "She was distraught. She was totally broken."

At the High Court in Glasgow, judge Lord Armstrong told Adams: "You took advantage of a vulnerable woman in a calculated and manipulative manner when she was alone and making her way through the streets of Edinburgh.

"Your actions have had a devastating and detrimental effect on her. The crime of rape is a grave one from which women should be protected."

The judge gave Adams a seven-year sentence for the rape to be added to an existing seven-year term handed down two months earlier for raping another woman in Blackheath, south-east London.

He is serving his sentence in England.

Mark Adams's victim was raped after a night out in Edinburgh in 2017

Last week, the West Yorkshire prison service wrote to advise the victim that Adams had been moved to a Category-D prison.

It said this would make him eligible to be escorted to a local town accompanied by a prison officer.

This could then lead to him progressing to unescorted absences usually involving day release for work or educational purpose.

The letter said that eventually Adams could progress to overnight home leave.

It said the purpose was to observe his ability to behave responsibly when coming into contact with members of the public.

His victim said there was no way Adams could be ready for day release, having served less than a third of his sentence.

She said: "It feels like the whole ordeal of going to court is being diminished or made redundant.

"Not to mention the fact that I cannot even begin to comprehend why anyone would want that kind of man to be reintroduced into the community in any way, shape, or form."

She said the rape would affect her for the rest of her life but Adams was moved to an open prison after four years.

'Traumatic crime'

Adams, who has been married twice and is a Cambridge graduate, worked for the government for six years during the 1990s and served as a private secretary to both Tony Blair and John Major. He was awarded an OBE in 1997.

After leaving the civil service, he set up a public affairs agency called Foresight Consulting in 2001. His company acted for clients including the Police Federation.

In recent years he acted as a lobbyist and held high-profile roles including chairman of the London Chamber of Commerce and Industry and of the Professional Lobbying Company.

Sandy Brindley, chief executive of Rape Crisis Scotland, told the BBC: "Rape is a very traumatic crime, and the resulting justice process can be extremely difficult.

"It is unacceptable that the victim-survivor in this case is having to face the prospect of her rapist being out in the community so soon into his sentence.

"We commend her courage in speaking out, but she shouldn't have been put in this position of having to set up a petition simply to see some form of protection and justice from the justice system.

"Cases like this show why so many women feel completely let down by the criminal justice process following rape or sexual assault."

A prison service spokesperson said: "Prisoners are risk-assessed before any move to open prison and we do not hesitate to move them back to tougher, closed jails if they break the rules."