Sex offender expelled from Dundee and Angus College

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-tayside-central-26664221

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A convicted sex attacker managed to enrol on a college course despite being banned from contact with teenagers.

Christopher Doyle was banned from unsupervised contact with anyone under the age of 17 after sexually assaulting a young woman while driving a taxi.

But he won a place at Dundee and Angus College alongside 16-year-old girls without disclosing his criminal past.

A spokesman for the college said "immediate action" was taken after the conviction came to light.

Doyle was 44 when he was placed on the sex offenders register in 2012 after he admitted indecently assaulting the young woman.

However, he was able to enrol on a computer course at Dundee and Angus College without telling his parole officer or disclosing his criminal past.

His presence at the Gardyne campus was revealed after it came to the attention of his victim's family, who lodged an official complaint fearing he could mingle with teenage students.

A spokesman for Dundee and Angus College said "immediate action" had been taken to remove Doyle from the course once his conviction came to light.

He said: "We can confirm that Christopher Doyle has been attending classes at D&A College.

"We were unaware of the court order but when it was brought to our attention we took immediate action to comply with it and Doyle is no longer attending classes."

Swift action

Dundee City East MSP Shona Robison said it was "very concerning" that Doyle had managed to enrol at the college, and said she would take the matter up with the Scottish government.

She said: "It is good that Dundee & Angus College acted swiftly when this was discovered and expelled him from college but questions must be asked as to why his criminal conviction and court order were not discovered as part of the application process.

"I will be writing to the justice secretary bringing the matter to his attention so that he can investigate how this could have happened, and how the management of sex offenders can be improved.

"We must make sure this never happens again."

Sexual assault

Doyle admitted sexually assaulting the young woman while working as a taxi driver in October 2010.

He had picked up the woman from Dundee nightclub Fat Sam's before driving her to a secluded lane outside nearby Longforgan.

He told the girl - who had asked to be dropped off at a bus stop as she was "really skint" - that he gave "freebies" in return for sexual favours.

Doyle told his victim he would take her home for "a tenner and a snog", before sexually assaulting her both inside the cab and outside when she tried to flee.

She returned to her home in a hysterical state, and swabs of DNA from her body were matched to Doyle.

The management of sex offenders in the community is a criminal justice role shared by the police and the local authority.

Both Police Scotland's Tayside division and Dundee City Council said they did not comment on individual cases.

Dundee and Angus College was created by the merger of the two regional colleges last November.