Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill has rejected a call for an investigation into a serial sex offender who tried to murder an Aberdeen woman so he could abduct and rape her grandchildren.
Ryan Yates faces a life sentence for the attack in Westfield Park, Bridge of Don, on October 14 last year.
The Crown is seeking a risk-assessment order on Yates that could lead to the imposition of a lifelong restriction order, which is effectively a life sentence with no guarantee of release.
If the parole board did decide later that he could go free, Yates would be supervised for the rest of his life.
Labour justice spokesman Richard Baker pressed Mr MacAskill to launch an investigation into the case because Yates was just two days into a sexual offence prevention order at the time of the attack.
The justice secretary said he was “delighted” that Yates had been caught but what happened now was for the Crown and police to decide.
Mr MacAskill said: “We don’t specify or comment on any individual case, but what we can say is that any judge who brings an order for lifelong restriction, who feels that to be appropriate, will have the full support of this government.”
Afterwards, Mr Baker said an inquiry was vital to find out what more could be done to restrict the movements of serial sex offenders. He said: “Yates is a vicious career sex offender who had admitted that he had wanted to go on to abuse children. He got worryingly close to doing so.
“It is clear that the system has failed and it is alarming that Kenny MacAskill is not ordering an immediate inquiry into finding out what went wrong.
“The justice secretary’s number one priority should be to ensure our communities are safe from harm.
“If lessons are to be learned, then we need to establish exactly what happened. Only a full inquiry will do that and I appeal to the minister to change his mind.”
Yates, 29, had been out of jail for just five days when he tried to stab the 60-year-old woman, who was with her grandchildren, aged two and eight. He told police he wanted to kill the woman, who cannot be named to protect the children’s identities, because he “wanted to get to the kids”.
The grandmother screamed for the children to flee as she grabbed the knife Yates was wielding and kicked him, scaring him off.
The court heard that Yates, of 31d Ashvale Place, Aberdeen, was only 14 when he was convicted on three charges of indecent assault and two of assault and was detained for four years.
He then served two other prison terms for sexual assaults, in 1999 and 2002. Yates was released after serving seven years on October 9 last year.
Three days later, an order was granted banning Yates from approaching any woman in a public place.
Police had spoken to him just two hours before the Westfield Park attack.