A LONGFORD man has been jailed for life in Scotland for raping and murdering a mother of three in Dundee last year.
Patrick Rae (41) was ordered to spend at least 20 years behind bars after a jury found him guilty of the murder of Dundee woman Mary McLaren in February 2010.
In handing down the sentence at Edinburgh High Court, the judge, Lord Tyre, said Rae had shown no compassion for his victim whom he had met at a nightclub on February 24th, 2010.
“You preyed on a woman who . . . by all accounts was already the worse for drink. You viciously raped and strangled her, leaving her body to be found many days later,” he said.
Family members of Ms McLaren huddled together holding hands before shouting “Yes” as the jury’s majority verdict was read out in court.
As Rae was led from the dock to begin his life sentence, a family impact statement was read out, telling of how the popular mother had been deprived of seeing her grandchild being born.
“Today’s verdict does not bring Mary back to us. It doesn’t take away the pain or the grief that we feel for our loss of Mary. No sentence will stop the nightmares that we all have thinking about how Mary must have suffered at the hands of this man.
“We are thankful of the decision reached by the jury today as it means this man will face the consequences of taking Mary from us.”
Rae was caught after Tayside police launched a hunt shortly after Ms McLaren disappeared. She had spent much of the evening in the company of her sister at the nightclub where she met Rae.
CCTV images showed Rae dancing with Ms McLaren before leaving the nightclub on the night she vanished.