Man who raped teenager in Edinburgh caught after fleeing court

A rapist who abducted a 15-year-old girl and attacked her in a basement escaped custody after being taken to court for his sentencing.

Aaron Strachan fled the GEOAmey escort while being moved to a waiting vehicle at the High Court in Edinburgh on Tuesday.

The 21-year-old, whose actions were described by a judge as “depraved and utterly wicked,” was apprehended at Parliament Square by police.

Sentencing has been deferred until 3 March.

A GEOAmey spokesman said an investigation into the escape was under way.

Police Scotland said Strachan had been “traced nearby and arrested” after the escape.

Strachan admitted following the teenager and threatening her with a knife in Edinburgh city centre on 25 May last year.

He forced his victim to walk to York Place before marching her down a set of steps and barricading the exit to a “rubbish-strewn” room, where he raped her.

Strachan then walked the victim to a nearby bin and told her to dump the bedding before warning her “not to tell anyone” or he would find and hurt her.

The girl told her mother about the incident and Strachan was arrested days later while hiding in bushes in the city’s Dalry.

He pled guilty to charges of abduction, assault and rape to injury and two further serious assault charges against two male victims at the High Court last month.

He was also placed on the sex offenders register.