A sex offender jailed in 2019 for attacking and trying to rape a stranger in Aberdeen has found himself back in the dock after trying to sign up for a dating site.
Dangerous predator Andrew Conway found himself in trouble again after joining the dating site Fancy A Fling but failing to properly inform police – a breach of the notification requirement of the sex offenders register.
The 39-year-old was using the username HandyAndy on the site, but managed to mix up some numbers at the end of the name and so ended up giving police an incorrect account.
Conway had only been released on licence from prison for around a month before the breach happened, meaning he was returned to jail to serve another four months of the original sentence.
He’d been jailed in 2019 for four years and five months, and put on the sex offenders register for life, over two brutal sex attacks.
The woman was attacked at about 12.30am on Saturday August 11 2019 when Conway followed her as she walked along George Street in the early hours of the morning.
The 35-year-old then hit her on the head, grabbed her by the neck and put her in a headlock before dragging her into a block of flats and demanding that she have sex with him.
‘Impact upon all women who walk the streets of Aberdeen at night’
Court papers state that the woman was “struggling to breathe” while Conway manhandled her off George Street and into a doorway near St Andrew Street.
He admitted “pushing her to the ground” and demanding that she remove her underwear and “engage in sexual activity”.
The woman managed to get away and was assisted by the scene by passers-by who helped her retrieve her belongings and gave her a lift home.
The incident happened just three months after the 35-year-old had been released on bail for sexually assaulting another woman.
He pleaded guilty to locking her in a bathroom, taking away her phone “to prevent her calling for help” and “detaining her against her will”.
He then “repeatedly” asked her to engage in sexual activity, kissed her on the neck and pushed her to the ground before trying to force her to perform a sex act on him.
At the time, Sheriff Graeme Napier said the assault would have a “chilling impact” across the city.
‘The consequences for him were serious’
He said: “Not only has this incident impacted upon your victim, but it will have an impact upon all women who find they have to walk the streets of Aberdeen at night.
“You were motivated by satisfying your own sexual needs, without having any respect for the victims.”
Appearing in court this week, Conway, now of George Street, Aberdeen, pled guilty to failing to correctly notify police of the dating site profile between July 29 and August 3 2022.
Defence agent John Hardie said his client had got mixed up between his age and the year of his birth when telling police the numbers at the end of the HandyAndy username.
He said: “This is a technical and not deliberate breach.
“He did everything he could to put it right as quickly as he could.
“The consequences for him were serious. He had been released from the sentence he was serving for one month prior to the transgression.
“He was recalled and served an extra four months.”
Sheriff Margaret Hodge admonished the sex offender, meaning the conviction goes on his record but he faces no other punishment.
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