Dundee sex predator still to be sentenced a year after conviction

A sexual predator previously remanded in custody has been released on bail – more than a year after he was first convicted.

Ryan Byrne pled guilty in September 2023 to attacking a teenage woman on the grounds of the University of Dundee at Park Place in 2018.

The case against him has been fraught with various delays, ranging from Byrne’s failure to attend court and engage with a psychiatric report, to issues with his hearing.

A fed-up Sheriff Alastair Carmichael remanded Byrne in custody last month in a bid to finally bring the case to an end.

However, the same sheriff granted Byrne his liberty and said he was not to blame for recent issues over a fresh psychiatric assessment being ordered.

Tricked police

Dundee Sheriff Court previously heard how Byrne – who also triggered a firearms incident at his home in 2020 – followed his victim, grabbed her from behind and restrained the woman while trying to place his hands down the front of her trousers.

The 44-year-old was stopped after a witness shouted over to him with police called out to arrest him.

He managed to trick police into letting him go after he was found lying on the ground outside the former Globe bar on West Port.

The court heard that he told officers: “I saw the guy grabbing the girl. I ran after him but I couldn’t catch him.”

Byrne, of St Nicholas Place, was given another chance to have an assessment undertaken in July this year. A warrant had previously been granted for his arrest.

He appeared for sentencing again on Monday, September 2 but the report had still not been completed.

Byrne claimed that he and his partner had made several attempts to arrange an appointment but received no correspondence.

‘I am irritated we are not further forward’

Solicitor Amy Fox, acting as duty agent, said previous appointments had either been cancelled or sessions were incomplete due to Byrne experiencing trauma.

The lawyer added that Byrne was also participating in a 14-week mental health course for veterans at Ibrox Stadium, the home of Rangers FC.

Sheriff Carmichael said at that hearing: “I am irritated that we are not further forward. I need this report to be completed.

“I can’t trust you to attend voluntarily so you will be remanded in custody.

“This matter has to be finished off. All I need is this report. I am afraid you are the author of your own misfortune here.”

Byrne, who is no longer represented by a solicitor, returned to court on Thursday, October 17.

Hearing aid issues

The court was told Byrne had encountered problems with his hearing aids while remanded in HMP Perth.

His partner was allowed to sit beside him in the dock and said Byrne’s normal hearing aids are Bluetooth-assisted. Those types of devices are not allowed in custody.

A supposed mentor of Byrne’s was also viewing proceedings in the public gallery.

Addressing Byrne’s partner, who relayed information to him, Sheriff Carmichael said: “I have remanded him because he did not cooperate in making a psychiatric report.

“No report has been forthcoming and it’s not his fault. I need that report before I can sentence him.

“I am going to release him on bail again because he now has a mentor who will be able to help him and cooperate.

“He (the mentor) can’t force him but he can help him. Someone will be in touch again to interview him.

“He must cooperate because the next time I will probably have to end up jailing him.”

Sentence was deferred until December.

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