Grandmother tells of rape ordeal

Anne Doherty still bears the physical scars from the attack

A grandmother who was raped at knifepoint by a teenager has told how she thought she was going to die.

Anne Doherty, 50, from Falkirk, was working at a care home in the town when Steven Malcolm took her hostage and repeatedly raped her.

She has waived her right to anonymity so that her story might help people understand what victims go through.

Mrs Doherty said her determination to see her granddaughter and family again gave her the strength to fight back.

Malcolm, 19, was jailed for a minimum of nine years on Wednesday.

However, a judge at the High Court in Edinburgh also imposed a lifelong restriction order on the teenager and told him he many never be released from jail.

I kept saying to him: 'I've got a family, I've got a granddaughter. Please don't kill me' Anne Doherty

Lord Menzies described the crime as "appalling" and said Malcolm posed a "serious risk of harm" to the public.

Malcolm, from Camelon, is only the second dangerous criminal in Scotland to be subjected to the order, which involves monitoring for the rest of his life.

The attack took place in July 2006 at the care home in Falkirk where Mrs Doherty has worked for the past 10 years.

Mrs Doherty said the doors to the home had been left open because it had been a warm summer evening and Malcolm, high on drink and drugs, had entered through them and hidden in one of the bedrooms.

The 50-year-old was with a colleague when Malcolm jumped out at them from a boiler cupboard brandishing a machete.

Raised knife

Some of the vulnerable residents came to see what the commotion was about and Mrs Doherty managed to persuade Malcolm to let them go to the living room.

She was forced downstairs at knifepoint and into a room which was barricaded before Malcolm ordered her to strip. He raped her twice during the ordeal.

Mrs Doherty said: "Out of the corner of my eye I suddenly saw his left hand raise the knife to thrust it towards my throat.

Mrs Doherty thought Malcolm was going to kill her

"I thought: 'He's going to kill me'.

"I grabbed the handle of the knife and clung on. I didn't want to die that way.

"I kept saying to him: 'I've got a family, I've got a granddaughter. Please don't kill me'."

Malcolm then began biting Mrs Doherty's arm and took two chunks out of it but she managed to cling on to the knife for the next 20 minutes until she heard police outside.

Mrs Doherty said that when she began shouting for help, she was punched and head-butted.

Police dog

"He literally took two chunks out of my arm but I didn't really feel it.

"I just knew I couldn't let go as he was so enraged. If I let go he was going to kill me."

She added: "I thought about my family and my granddaughter.

"I thought if I don't put a fight up, I was convinced he was going to kill me."

Mrs Doherty was warned to tell the police to back off or he would slit her throat.

Malcolm then took Mrs Doherty to the front door, where they were faced by police and when he tried to move back into the home, an officer blocked his way.

Mrs Doherty managed to grab the knife and a police dog was let loose to restrain him and he was eventually arrested.

She said she still bore the physical scars from the attack but was determined not to let Malcolm ruin her life.