Serial fraudster Ryan McVeigh used multiple aliases to carry out sexual, financial and emotional abuse which destroyed the lives of victims and officials missed the chance to stop him, a probe shows
A dating app rapist who conned and abused seven women targeted ten more victims after being freed from prison to await trial. Ryan McVeigh, 32, used multiple aliases to carry out sexual, financial and emotional abuse which destroyed the lives of victims.
The serial fraudster finally pled guilty to a litany of charges in November, but a newspaper probe revealed officials missed the chance to stop him in 2023 when he appeared in court and was remanded in custody – only to be set free a few days later.
McVeigh went on to target 10 more women – conning them out of a total of £55,250 and raping one before finally being brought to justice.
One devastated victim, who spoke on condition of anonymity, has hit out at the missed opportunity to stop the serial predator. She told the Sunday Mail: “He has ruined so many women’s lives. But being pulled into court didn’t deter him, he actually got worse.
“I just feel so many women have been failed by the criminal justice system that had a chance to stop him.”
Opposition politicians have reacted furiously to our revelations and demanded an urgent review of court bail and liberation procedures.
McVeigh picked the women via dating apps like Tinder and Bumble using a string of fake names. Many of the women he stole money from were already vulnerable having escaped abusive relationships, lost their job or even trying to recover from similar scams.
Among the many charges which McVeigh pled guilty to were the rape of the two main victims and multiple frauds. McVeigh met one of his first victims, who cannot be named, on Tinder under the name of Gary Stephenson.
He took out payday loans and opened gambling accounts in her name, conning her out of £18,000. However later posing as his friend “Paul Justin” he stayed at her home, assaulted and raped her.
When he was tracked down by police McVeigh told officers his name was Paul Justin and he was from South Africa. He stole from one woman who he told he had terminal prostate cancer and got her to arrange his funeral.
McVeigh conned her out of £38,000 before she alerted police who arrested McVeigh in July 2024. Another woman lost £8500 and a further victim £4000. In November, McVeigh pled guilty to 38 charges from 2023 and 2024 at the High Court in Glasgow.
Judge Lady Drummond told McVeigh: “The scale of your deception, coercion and abuse which you inflicted is staggering.
“I have received four impact statements, and I may get more. Those who have written describe how devastating the impact of your behaviour has had, placing them in constant fear and financial ruin.”
But the Sunday Mail’s investigation revealed that McVeigh initially appeared in court on petition on 24 November, 2023, charged with a serious domestic abuse charge and was remanded in custody.
Official court documents state he was granted bail five days later at Kilmarnock Sheriff court in December 1.
However after the Sunday Mail queried the decision Crown officials admitted there had been a mistake and that he had been freed under a separate process due to a lack of evidence.
The references to bail are now expected to be removed through a formal motion at his next court appearance in March when he is due to be sentenced.
At the time McVeigh had already targeted seven victims and within weeks of being allowed to walk free he had resumed terrorising another 10 women before finally being taken into custody eight months later in July 2024.
In court in November he finally admitted to defrauding a total of 17 victims out of £81,872 including raping two of the women over 12 months.
The case raises concerns over the dangers of releasing dangerous offenders from court due to a struggling criminal justice system.
It comes after new regulations in the Bail and Release from Custody (Scotland) Act came into force on May 14 which make it easier for offenders to be released pending trial.
They removed a “presumption” for courts to deny release to anyone accused of violent, sexual or domestic abuse if they have a past similar conviction unless the court can determine a good reason for refusing it.
The Bill was designed to reduce the number of people sent to prison while awaiting trial. Opposition politicians have now accused the Scottish Government of a cost-cutting exercise to free up prison space which puts women’s safety at risk.
Justice Secretary Angela Constance previously insisted the changes would allow for those accused of crimes to be sent to prison on remand “where victims’ safety is put at risk”.
McVeigh – who was said to have had serious gambling issues – was due to be sentenced earlier this month but the case was adjourned after Lady Drummond ordered a psychiatric report to be compiled first.
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