Raped with a knife at her throat

IT WAS an ordinary day at the Sea Breeze cafe, where Sean McKay was just another customer tucking into his evening meal. He had eaten there almost daily for five months – sometimes alone, sometimes with friends – and was known for being open and friendly.

So staff at the London Road cafe thought nothing of him chatting to a 27-year-old woman who had called in to sell paintings.

He said he had to go and feed his cat and she, believing she was about to make a sale, offered to go with him to his nearby flat.

However McKay, 40, had no interest in art and instead would hold his terrified victim hostage for 13 hours, repeatedly raping her and forcing her to commit sex acts at knifepoint as he smoked cannabis.

One worker at the cafe said: "He was one of our regular customers, coming in almost every day, sometimes twice a day.

"In the morning he would have a Scottish breakfast, double bacon, in the evening a fish supper or something like that. Sometimes he would have friends with him. I was very surprised when I heard what he had done – he seemed so normal."

In fact, McKay was far from normal. He had a history of mental illness and serious offending, and had served long prison terms for two offences, both chillingly similar to the rape ordeal he admitted at Edinburgh High Court yesterday. In 1991, he sexually assaulted a 14-year-old boy he held hostage for 16 hours, only surrendering as police prepared an SAS-style assault from the rooftop.

And in 1996, he was jailed for eight years after subjecting a 16-year-old boy to another overnight sex ordeal in his flat.

Unsurprisingly, McKay was considered "high risk" by police and was monitored by the Lothian and Borders offender management unit.

He had been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia and spent time in Carstairs State Hospital but, despite no longer taking his medication after complaining it made him feel ill, the court heard he was not insane when he carried out this latest appalling crime.

On the evening of January 23, McKay told his victim – believed to be an Israeli in Scotland on a student visa – that he liked her nude paintings but had no cash.

He said a friend was bringing round £200 later on and the woman returned to his home in Sunnybank Terrace, Meadowbank, between 8.30pm and 9pm.

She became worried by his behaviour and called her manager, who told her to leave. It was then McKay came at her with a kitchen knife pointed at her throat.

The court heard the victim, now back in her home country, still suffers from "sleep disturbance, panic and anxiety".

The police arrived – alerted by the woman's boss and McKay's neighbours – but were held at bay until late the following morning.

Neighbour Ian Mote, 54, a plumber, had returned home from work tired and gone to bed early. He said: "It was just after 10pm that it all started up. I heard some commotion but assumed it was just his pals leaving the flat to go to the pub and didn't think anything of it. Twenty minutes later the police arrived with dogs."

By this time McKay had already raped his victim twice. He would do so twice more as police stood outside his barricaded front door trying to negotiate.

Outside the block of flats, armed officers wearing body armour and carrying riot shields had arrived and the street was cordoned off.

Mr Mote said: "I heard a female voice – the police negotiator – talking to him through the letterbox. There was another female officer with her and a man.

"They were not pleading with him. It was like they were trying to encourage him to let the lassie out. At one point he said, 'I'm not going to go back there.' I took it he meant prison."

By now the stairwell was full of police and residents were under orders to stay inside their flats.

Mr Mote sat in his living room with yet more officers who had commandeered his home while the negotiations continued.

Inside his flat, McKay had barricaded the door with items of furniture, including a table and a chest of drawers. He repeatedly threatened to kill himself and police throughout the night.

It was only at 10.30am the next day that the nightmare neared its end. McKay took a number of tablets and fell asleep.

The woman bravely tried to lever open the front door, then wrote in condensation on the window pane: "Force the door". It was the signal the police – many now on a second shift – had been waiting for.

The message was passed from the officers outside to the negotiators on the landing, who managed to open the door just enough to squeeze her through the gap.

Bare-footed, and wearing just underwear and a jumper, she was led to safety. A blanket was placed over her head as police helped her to a waiting ambulance.

The police now had little reason to hold back. An electric saw was used to cut around the lock and then across the middle of the door. The top half was lifted out and passed into Mr Mote's flat, followed by the bottom half.

McKay, now awake, watched as a dozen or more officers removed the obstacles, one by one. Mr Mote heard one shouting: "Sean, give us the weapon. Give us the weapon."

An eight-inch kitchen knife was passed back and placed on a radiator in his flat. The handle cover had been removed and just the thin metal base remained. McKay put his hands on one of the officers' shields as a sign of surrender and was led to a waiting police car.

In court, he admitted repeatedly raping the woman and holding her against her will. Judge Lord Kinclaven took the unusual step of allowing him to leave the dock during the hearing, after Robbie Burnett, defence, argued McKay could become psychotic if put under extreme stress. He has been on suicide watch in Edinburgh Prison. Sentencing was deferred until July for background reports.