Rapist police officer Cameron Ross was due to stand trial for earlier allegations a decade before he was jailed for attacking three women. The case was dropped by prosecutors on the eve of trial in 2016, allowing him to continue working as a police officer.
Ross jailed for 10 years
On Thursday, July 2, 2026, Ross was jailed for 10 years after being found guilty of raping two women and carrying out a campaign of domestic abuse against a third. The offences took place at locations in Inverness and on the Isle of Lewis between 2012 and 2022.
It has now emerged that Ross was cleared of an earlier rape allegation after he was suspended by Police Scotland in 2014. A woman reported that Ross had raped her on the Isle of Lewis. He was charged in connection with the offence and, according to the BBC, was due to stand trial in 2016 before prosecutors dropped the case after reviewing the evidence.
Internal disciplinary process
An internal disciplinary process was carried out by Police Scotland, and Ross was subsequently reinstated. He continued to work as a police officer for another six years. The woman who made the original allegations said she has been "denied justice" and that she "would never get closure" because of how Police Scotland handled the original inquiry, reports the Press and Journal.
Ross was suspended again in June 2022 after a woman complained of physical abuse. That complaint led to an investigation uncovering the rapes he had committed on the Isle of Lewis. He was found guilty at the High Court in Edinburgh of offences including rape, domestic abuse, attempting to pervert the course of justice, and threatening or abusive behaviour. Following the guilty verdict, Ross resigned from Police Scotland.
Prosecutors' commitment prevented prosecution
As a result of a commitment given by prosecutors when they dropped the original charges, the rape claim from 2014 could not form part of the case against him. The court heard that "an irrevocable renunciation" of the right to prosecute Ross over the incident had been made by prosecutors.
Police Scotland said it contacted the woman the year after charges were dropped in response to a complaint about its investigation. Chief Superintendent Helen Harrison said in a statement that Police Scotland had apologised for "failings in communication." She added: "The handling of that complaint was subject of review by the Police Investigations Review Commissioner (PIRC) in 2019 which found three of the four complaints were handled to a reasonable standard and made recommendations for further inquiry into one complaint. We acknowledged PIRC's recommendation for further enquiry relating to one upheld complaint. Upon completion of this inquiry, we updated the complainer and PIRC to its outcome in 2020."
Ross was also placed on the sex offenders register indefinitely.
