Arrival of Da Vinci Code rapist forces neighbour to quit home

As residents staged a second night of angry protests, Caitlyn Nelson, 20, revealed she hadn’t been able to sleep since police told her Greens was moving in next door to the secluded cottage near Bonnyrigg which she has shared with her partner David Smith, 21, for almost two years.

A furious mob of around 100 people lined the road outside a row of cottages last night demanding the rapist’s removal as they unfurled banners reading “Beast”, “Da Vinci Rapist” and “Get Him Out”.

And Caitlyn revealed she had demanded to be rehoused by Midlothian Council to get away from Greens.

She said: “This is bringing back a lot of bad feelings for me. We were living a nice quiet life here and were about to start a family when all of a sudden I’ve got this beast living right next door.

“Enough is enough. I went and told the council today that I wanted out and they just said ‘fine we’ll rehouse you’. He seems to have more right to a quiet life than I do.”

The rapist’s two-bed property sits beside five other cottages on the outskirts of Bonnyrigg and had previously been occupied by child sex offender William Dunsmore.

Shopworker Caitlyn added: “Dunsmore was old and frail and kept himself to himself mainly. This guy is totally different. I haven’t slept since the policeman knocked on my door to tell me.”

Greens’ new home is just six miles from Rosslyn Chapel, where he brutally raped a 19-year-old Dutch student in 2005. He was jailed for ten years after what a judge described as “one of the worst cases of rape” ever dealt with at the High Court.

After being released at the start of this year, Greens, 34, lived in Dalkeith and Edinburgh before being temporarily moved out of the Lothians for almost two months.

Council workmen were last night erecting safety barriers outside the property, which was guarded by around eight police officers. Protesters then reacted with fury when an officer handed a bag of shopping over Greens’ back wall at 8.10pm.

Maranda Laidlaw, 37, who was preparing to camp outside the cottage all night, said: “It’s disgusting the way he gets treated while the rest of us just have to deal with it. He’s got a nice wee house and policemen bringing him his shopping. I’m going to stay here all night.”

Angry neighbours first began to gather on Monday night. They told the Evening News that after Dunsmore it was clear the property was being used as “a dumping ground for sexual predators”.

Eibhlin McHugh, Midlothian Council’s director of communities and wellbeing, said: “We want to assure the public that their safety is paramount and robust procedures are in place to manage Robert Greens’ return to the community. Following our work with the police to notify neighbours we have met with council tenants who have expressed concerns. These concerns will be factored into tenants’ requests to relocate.”

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