Police welcome abductor's jail sentence

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Victims praised for courage in coming forward and helping Police Scotland to secure convictions POLICE Scotland have welcomed the jail sentence imposed on Wick man Gary Thomson, at the High Court in Edinburgh, this week for abduction and assaults and paid tribute to the courage of his victims in coming forward and helping to ensure convictions. Thomson, 42, was jailed for six years. Hehad been convicted in April this year (2014) of offences of abduction and assaults, four of which included assault to the endangerment of life. These offences were committed by Mr Thomson against four women and a man in Caithness and Shetland between 1996 and 2013. Detective Inspector Eddie Ross of the Inverness based Domestic Abuse Investigation Unit, and Chair of the Multi-Agency Risk Assessment Conference (MARAC) in Highland, which focuses on protecting high risk victims of domestic abuse, said: "This result is welcomed by Police Scotland and stands as testimony to the bravery of Mr Thomson's victims in not only coming forward but staying with the prosecution process to conviction. "This sentence is the culmination of a protracted investigation undertaken by the Domestic Abuse Investigation Unit, which as well as working with other agencies to protect victims of domestic abuse, conducts such investigations to target repeat perpetrators of domestic abuse, such as Mr Thomson." The Inverness Domestic Abuse Investigation Unit was formed in 2012. There are currently similar units based in every Division of Police Scotland. DI Ross added: "We will pro-actively focus resources on the perpetrators of domestic crime by profiling perpetrators and identifying victims to ensure that best evidence is gathered and such perpetrators are brought into the criminal justice system."