Former River City actor Iain Robertson has today been found guilty of five offences, including rape and domestic abuse against women between 2004 and 2019
Iain Robertson has been found guilty(Image: BBC Studios Scotland/BBC Scotland)
Former River City star Iain Robertson has been found guilty of raping a woman. The actor, 45, was also found guilty of assaulting two more, as well as domestic abuse, between 2004 and 2019.
The actor, who played Stevie O’Hara in the BBC soap, denied the charges against him. During his trial, held at the High Court in Glasgow, the actor, who also appeared in Grange Hill, was referred to as “violent” and “controlling” by witnesses.
His sentencing has been deferred until July 23 to allow time for background reports. He had been on bail but showed no remorse, and he was remanded in custody.
During the trial, the rape victim’s pre-recorded testimony was played. The jury concluded that the actor had raped her on a single occasion between 2018 and 2019, and also carried out a separate sex assault on the victim, reports the BBC.
The actor and the victim met while working together on River City. She said that she had not wished for anything sexual to happen, but Robertson did. As the relationship became intimate, the victim said she wanted it to become friendly again.
When asked by prosecutor John Keenan KC how Iain had responded, she said he had “agreed”. The witness went on to say: “It was a long back and forth. Iain was convinced I was in denial about having feelings for him and in denial about what I wanted.
“I do not think he believed me.” She added that she felt as though her “boundaries were being ignored”. While sleeping at his home in Glasgow, she had initially planned to sleep on the sofa, but the actor told her she could share his bed and said, “nothing would happen”.
However, she told the prosecutor that the actor “had sex” with her as she slept in his bed. She said: “I was lying down, I was very limp and he went on top of me.” At the time he didn’t say anything to the actor but stated she didn’t want anything to happen.
During another incident, also in Glasgow, the actor had allegedly been upset about the “sexual aspect” of their relationship ending and is said to have kicked over a table and broke a vase.
He allegedly went into the woman’s bed, and she also got into bed to sleep. However, she told the court that Iain had allegedly attempted to pull her on top of him before having sex with her again.
She didn’t want anything sexual to happen and felt “very numb”. During the trial, she also spoke of an earlier incident which involved the actor carrying out a sexual act on her, and she had “just waited for it to be over”.
Iain had lodged a special defence and claimed that anything with the woman was consensual. However, as well as the rape, he was also found guilty of engaging in abusive behaviour with the victim.
Prosecutors had made the decision to lead evidence from another sexual incident involving a second woman to corroborate the rape charge involving the first lady.
He allegedly forced himself on a woman while with others in the Lake District in September 2007. The jury didn’t have to deliver a verdict on this allegation.
He was convicted of assaulting the woman, which included the actor pouring wine over her and her university work. Keenan said that the jury on the trial had heard “strong and overwhelming” accounts of the incidents from the women.
He went on to say that there was a “common theme” of the actor being “controlling, humiliating and demeaning” towards the women. He added that Iain’s evidence throughout the trial had been “wholly incredible and unreliable”. Iain told the jury that he was “no angel” but continued to deny the charges.
If you’ve been the victim of sexual assault, you can access help and resources via www.rapecrisis.org.uk or calling the national telephone helpline on 0808 802 9999
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