British Indian nurse jailed for rape, sexual assaults at Scotland care home

London, Dec 10 (PTI) A 47-year-old nurse from Kerala has been sentenced to seven years and nine months' imprisonment after pleading guilty to rape and sexual assault offences at a care home in Scotland.

Naijil Paul admitted to raping a vulnerable colleague and sexually assaulting two other women while he was the manager of a care home in North Lanarkshire over seven years ago.

He was charged with the offences in 2018 and fled to Kochi just before his trial in December 2019. In October this year, Paul pleaded guilty to the offences after his extradition from India and was sentenced at the High Court in Glasgow on Monday.

“In addition to the serious and predatory nature of your offending, notwithstanding the fact you pled guilty, the version of events given by you bears little resemblance to what you have admitted to,” Justice Lord Renucci is quoted in UK court reports as saying.

According to BBC Scotland, the court was told that despite the guilty pleas Paul had shown "quite a degree of victim blaming" in a pre-sentencing report – to the extent he claimed he thought he was doing one of the women a favour.

“The degree of victim-blaming that he has embarked upon does cause me some concern. Although he is assessed at medium risk [of re-offending], that very much underestimates his level of risk,” the judge noted.

The sentencing hearing was told that the nurse had ordered the rape victim to "do what I want" or face being sacked. When the 26-year-old victim returned from sick leave in April 2018, she told a senior colleague that her debt was a significant factor in her return to work.

A week later, Paul told her that she was at risk of losing her job due to the amount of time she had off and told her to engage in a sex act in order to stay in her post.

The court also heard how Paul tried to kiss after placing his hands on the hips of a 19-year-old care assistant and came on to a 21-year-old care assistant by inappropriate touching.

"I know you want it. I can tell by your body language," he is said to have told the latter.

While his sentence was somewhat reduced from eight years due to the guilty plea, Paul will be supervised for a further two years after his release and will be placed on the sex offenders list for life. He is also banned from going near any of the victims.

The BBC Scotland court report details how Paul, a British national of Indian heritage, was due to stand trial in December 2019 when he fled to Kochi claiming his father had been ill. He was arrested in February this year and extradited from Delhi to Scotland in June. PTI AK SCY SCY