A violent sex attacker has been cleared of raping a transgender female in prison and sexually assaulting a second inmate in the jail. William Bermingham, 40, was accused of entering the cell of the alleged rape victim at Glenochil jail, in Clackmannanshire, and threatening violence before the alleged sex attack on her.
He was also alleged to have gone into the cell of another prisoner and pushed him onto a bed during a sex attack months earlier. Bermingham was given a life sentence in 2006 after attacking a senior woman prison officer at Polmont young offenders' institution and brandishing a knife a year earlier. He was in the youth jail serving a five year sentence after subjecting a lone 17-year-old girl to an attempted rape at knifepoint in Grangemouth, in Stirlingshire, in 2002.
Not Guilty Verdict
Bermingham denied carrying out the sex attacks at Glenochil prison during a trial at the High Court in Edinburgh and a jury found him not guilty of both charges. The verdict was returned in the absence of Bermingham. Earlier in the trial he assaulted a woman security escort who he shoved during a confrontation as he tried to leave the dock as the court was sitting.
Victim's Account
The transgender prisoner, who has since died, said that after disclosing her sexuality she was given female clothes to wear and would be searched by female officers. During a statement given to police she said Bermingham began making comments towards her such as asking to see her in female underwear. The prisoner said: "He would ask me for the underwear for myself. He then went on to make sexual suggestions, asking for sexual acts on him."
The prisoner said she felt threatened by the comments made by Bermingham. The inmate said in March 2016 Bermingham entered her cell with a blade when she was watching TV, closed the door and gave her an ultimatum: "You either have sex with me or I slash you", she said. The inmate said: "I agreed to have sex with him due to the fear of being slashed. I felt horrible and sick. It was painful. I didn't tell anyone about this at the time. I didn't receive any medical treatment."
Second Alleged Victim
The other prisoner Bermingham was accused of sexually assaulting in 2015 at Glenochil said he came into his cell and began making "sexual advances" towards him. The 42-year-old said: "I tried to get out of the cell and he shoved me onto the bed with his hands. I could see he was sexually aroused. He was wearing shorts." The man said he managed to get up and ran past him. Defence counsel, Lord Stewart KC, said Bermingham's position was that it did not happen and said to the man: "That's the truth isn't it." The man responded: "No, it did happen."
Previous Victim Testifies
During the trial the Crown led evidence from former victims of Bermingham, including a woman who was attacked by him as a teenager. The woman, now aged 41, told the court that in September 2002 she was aged 17 and went out with friends in Grangemouth and as she walked home she noticed a man at a balcony, who was smoking and watching her. She spoke to her mother on the phone as she continued to walk on her own, but a man armed with a knife approached her and told her to hang up the phone.
She said he was directing her where he wanted her to go and told her to lie down at an embankment. Advocate depute Kath Harper KC asked her how she reacted and she said: "I froze. I was petrified." The woman said her trousers and underwear were taken down to her knees and added: "He assaulted me with his hand and his mouth. I believe his trousers were also at his knees." She said: "He attempted to penetrate my vagina with his penis but was unsuccessful." She said the attacker put the knife against her throat and asked her where she lived. He said that if she told the police he would find her and kill her, before running off.
The woman was giving evidence after the Crown added a docquet to the indictment stating that Bermingham had followed the woman on September 13 in 2002 at streets in Grangemouth and attacked and sexually assaulted her. Lord Stewart asked her if it was explained to her before she gave evidence that none of what she said was challenged by the defence in Bermingham's trial over the alleged prison sex attacks and she replied: "Yes."
Background
Bermingham is the son of notorious sex attacker John Bermingham (59) who was given an Order for Lifelong Restriction in 2021 following his conviction for child sex crimes and other offences.
