When a judge spared a Highland rapist from jail because he didn’t want to be “vindictive” to the vile offender, the blue touchpaper started smouldering.

It burst into flame as the victim, who was 13 when she was abused while trapped in a tent, exploded with anger.

She told The P&J that it was another example of no justice for victims in Scotland.

Whether prosecutors will also challenge this judgment as too lenient remains to be seen, even though the circumstances of this case were complex in the extreme.

The critical merciful factor against jail for Judge Lord Arthurson was the current incurable state of the rapist’s health.

He has Huntington’s Disease – a degenerative brain condition – which means he will inevitably die early.

A sad situation, but would there be one iota of sympathy from the man or woman in the street?

Poetic justice perhaps, especially after the lifelong mental trauma inflicted on his defenceless child victim.

Under beefed-up rape sentencing in Scotland, Shaun McKenna was looking at a minimum of five to seven years as a long-term prisoner – without early-release perks lavished on short-term convicts by the Scottish Government.

The age of the victim and threats towards her by........

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