Care home nurse raped colleague after threatening her with sack

A nurse who raped a vulnerable colleague after threatening her with the sack if she did not perform sex acts has been jailed for almost eight years.

Naijil Paul also sexually assaulted two other young women while working as a care home manager in North Lanarkshire.

He was sentenced at the High Court in Glasgow to seven years and nine months in jail, having been extradited back to Scotland from India for the trial.

Paul admitted to the crimes at a hearing in October, but the court heard that despite his guilty pleas he had shown “quite a degree of victim blaming” in a pre-sentencing report – to the extent he claimed he thought he was doing one of the women a favour.

The court heard the 47-year-old ordered the rape victim to “do what I want” or said she would face the sack.

The 26-year-old victim had returned from sick leave in April 2018, and had told a senior colleague that her debt was a significant factor in coming back.

A week later, Paul entered the woman’s office while she was alone and closed the door.

He told her that she was at risk of losing her job due to the amount of time she had off. He said that he was aware of her financial problems and that she could be evicted from her home with her children.

He told her to “do what I want” and referred to a sex act then stated her job would be safe if she did this. He added that if she refused, it would be her fault her children would be homeless.

After raping her, he told her not to tell anyone as “no one will believe you and your job won’t be safe”.

The woman burst into tears and fled.

She went off on sick leave again and did not tell anyone what happened until a police probe into Paul’s offending.

The hearing was told about a 19-year-old care assistant who Paul tried to kiss, after he placed his hands on her hips.

He told the woman: “I know you want this.”

Two weeks later, Paul moved her hand towards an intimate area of his body, while on another occasion he grabbed the waistband of her trousers and said he wanted to see what colour of underwear she had on.

Paul also asked a 21-year-old care assistant if she was serious about her boyfriend.

He put his hand on her shoulder and waist then said: “I know you want it. I can tell by your body language.”

On another occasion, Paul tried to kiss her before he was shoved away. Later that day, he then molested the woman.

She told another colleague of being frightened she would lose her job if she complained.

Paul will be supervised for a further two years on his release.

He will also be on the sex offenders list for life and is banned from going near any of the victims.

Paul was due to stand trial in 2019, but he did not appear and a warrant was granted for his arrest.

He fled to Kochi in India, claiming his father had been ill, before being arrested in February this year and extradited from Delhi to Scotland.

He admitted to charges of rape and two charges of sexual assault and the sentence was cut from eight years due to the guilty plea.

However Lord Renucci remarked to Paul’s KC Edith Forrest about comments made by him in a pre-sentencing report.

The judge said he was concerned by the victim blaming in his comments and that although he was assessed as being medium risk of re-offending, Lord Renucci believed that “very much underestimates his level of risk”.

The judge told Paul he had been in a position of power before carrying out offences which were planned and deliberate.

He added: “In addition to the serious and predatory nature of your offending, notwithstanding the fact you pled guilty, the version of events given by you bears little resemblance to what you have admitted to.”

The judge said this even went as far as describing the rape as a “sexual encounter” which was “consensual”.