Police officer guilty of series of rapes and sex attacks over 17 years

A former Police Scotland officer has been convicted of a catalogue of sex crimes, including two counts of rape, over a 17-year period.

Campbell Petrie, 50, was found guilty at the High Court in Glasgow of nine charges involving physical and sexual abuse towards two women between 2006 and 2023.

Petrie, who was a serving officer at the time of the offences, was initially arrested in 2009 following allegations made by one of the women but was released after five hours and remained in his police role.

The force confirmed he was arrested, charged and suspended from duty in December 2023. He retired from the force in December last year.

The charges included indecent assault, assault with intent to rape and assault to injury and danger of life.

Petrie denied the accusations and claimed he had been left "absolutely humiliated".

Judge Alistair Watson told Petrie "the gravity of the crimes committed cannot be overstated".

He was remanded in custody and is due to be sentenced next month.

The court heard Petrie met the first woman in a queue in a Tesco supermarket in Glasgow's Springburn when he was on shift.

He said he "immediately found her quite attractive".

They remained in contact after she came to see him at the city's Baird Street station.

The relationship started well but Petrie soon "started calling the woman names".

She said: "He wanted me to be a skinny blonde."

The court heard he lost his temper in a bar in Glasgow's west end and dragged her out, having earlier hit a man.

The woman alleged she woke up to find Petrie having sex with her but he denied it and claimed he found the claim "absolutely sickening, devastating".

Petrie also refuted claims he was overly physical with his victim, insisting anything he did was with "affection".

He told jurors: "There was never any time she was forced to do anything. She was fully consenting."

The trial also heard evidence of Petrie being aggressive with the woman while he was drunk after a party.

He denied putting his hands around her throat.

Petrie got to know the latter victim through both of them working in the police.

Jurors heard it was initially "all very pleasant" between the pair but the woman told the court Petrie did not like her working with men.

She said he would make comments about her weight, tried to get her to stand on scales and raked through bins to check what she had eaten.

He also attempted to stop her from going on social media and made her lose contact with her friends.

The trial heard Petrie hounded the woman at a friend's home despite being warned not to come near - which prosecutors branded as "sinister" - as he loitered at the back of the property in the dark.

The woman made sexual allegations against him, which included testimony that he raped her in the changing rooms of a leisure centre in Lanarkshire.

Petrie said: "That never took place at all in the swimming baths, there or anywhere public."

He had previously had sex with the woman at a flat in Glasgow's southside in 2011, after she had been drinking and unable to consent.

Petrie said the similarity in the two women's' accounts was "almost too convenient".

Det Supt Adam Brown, of Police Scotland's public protection unit, said: "Our thoughts are very much with the victims in this case and I commend their strength in reporting these crimes and bringing Campbell Petrie to justice."

Brown acknowledged how difficult it could be to report such offences "particularly when the perpetrator is a police officer".

He added: "I want to reassure the public we will identify and investigate these officers whether they are serving or retired, or whether their crimes are committed on duty or, as in this instance, off duty.

"Petrie will now face the consequences of his actions."

Earlier this year, BBC Disclosure revealed that another police officer was a violent rapist who carried out attacks on women over at least 14 years.

PC Alan Greer's first known victim was a woman he raped in her home in Glasgow in 2012 after she called the police to report being the victim of a crime.

It emerged that Greer used hundreds of prostitutes throughout his police career.

Police Scotland has identified 15 of Greer's victims, but there are fears that the true number is far greater.

He had passed vetting checks to join the force despite having two reports of criminal behaviour against women on his record.

Greer took his own life in May, just days after a police raid on his home as part of an investigation into his offences.