British Indian nurse jailed for over 7 years for rape, assault at care home in Scotland
A high court in Glasgow sentenced Naijil Paul to seven years and nine months in jail on Monday after he admitted to the crimes in October.
A 47-year-old man from Kerala, who worked as a nurse in a care home in Scotland, has been sentenced to jail for almost eight years for raping a colleague after threatening her to do as he said or lose her job and also sexually assaulting two other women at his workplace back in 2018, reported BBC.
The man, identified as Naijil Paul, worked manager of a care home in North Lanarkshire where he raped a colleague and sexually assaulted two other women some seven years ago.
A high court in Glasgow sentenced Paul to seven years and nine months in jail on Monday after he admitted to the crimes in October.
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The timeline of Naijil Paul’s trial
Naijil Paul, a British national of Indian origin, was charged for his offences in 2018, however, in December 2019, right before his trial, he fled to Kochi in Kerala while claiming that his father had been ill, the BBC report said. However, he was arrested in February this year and was later extradited from India to Scotland.
While facing the court, Paul admitted to raping his colleague and two charges of sexual assault, following which, his sentence was cut short to around eight years.
However, Justice Lord Renucci, who sentenced Paul, expressed concerns over the offender’s remarks which indicated victim blaming. He also said that while Paul was assessed as being ‘medium risk’ of committing the crime again, he believed that "very much underestimates his level of risk", the report said.
Noting that Paul was in a position of power when he committed the crimes, the judge said, "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."
‘Do what I want’
During the trial, the court was told that Paul told the rape victim before committing the crime to “do what I want” or risk losing her job, particularly when she was in debt.
According to the BBC report, the 26-year-old woman had returned to work in April 2018 after sick leave and confided in one of her senior colleagues that she was under debt and that was a big reason for her coming back to work.
However, around a week later, Paul caught the woman alone in her office and told her that she could lose her job because of her leaves and even said that he was aware of her financial condition. He then suggested for her to do as he said so that her job could be safe and she and her children would not be evicted from her home. After Paul raped her, he told the victim to not disclose it to anyone while remarking that no one would believe her. Following this, the victim again went on a sick leave and only opened up about her ordeal during the probe into Paul’s crimes.
The court was also told that Paul tried to kiss a 19-year-old care assistant at the care home and also touched her inappropriately. With another 21-year-old worker at the care home, Paul placed his hands on her shoulder and waist and told her, "I know you want it. I can tell by your body language” after asking her if she was serious about her boyfriend. At a later occasion, Paul even tried to kiss the woman but was shoved away. However, he went on to molest her later in the day.
