A Scottish earl has been jailed for 10 months for sexually assaulting a woman at his ancestral home in Angus.
The Earl of Strathmore, Simon Bowes-Lyon, forced his way into the sleeping woman’s room during an event he was hosting at Glamis Castle.
A sheriff told Bowes-Lyon – who is the Queen’s first cousin twice removed – that his victim still suffered nightmares as a result of the assault.
Bowes-Lyon was also placed on the sex offenders register for 10 years.
Ignored pleas
Sheriff Alastair Carmichael told Bowes-Lyon, 34, that he had repeatedly ignored his victim’s pleas during the attack.
The sheriff said: “Even now – one year on – she still, occasionally, has nightmares and feels panicked because of being sexually assaulted by you.
“This has also had an impact on her emotional wellbeing.”
He said that the sentence “must reflect the gravity of the crime” and that a community disposal “would not meet these requirements.”
Dundee Sheriff Court was told previously that Bowes-Lyon repeatedly assaulted the 26-year-old victim and tried to pull off her nightdress during the 20-minute attack.
The court heard that the woman fled the castle the morning after the attack on 13 February last year and flew home to report the matter to police.
Both Police Scotland and the Metropolitan Police were involved in the investigation.
John Scott QC, defending, said his client, who reports said was a medium risk of reoffending, had shown “genuine remorse”.
Glamis Castle, near Forfar, has been the seat of the Bowes-Lyon family since 1372.
It was the childhood home of the Queen Mother, and the Queen’s sister Princess Margaret was born there.
Bowes-Lyon was a great-great nephew of the Queen Mother.
Source: bbc.co.uk
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