Two friends who were raped by a serial predator on the night they celebrated his engagement to one of them have revealed how a chance text message after eight years of silence finally helped put him behind bars. The women have bravely spoken out a year after convicted sex offender and domestic abuser Aaron Swan was jailed indefinitely, with neither victim believing he will ever be safe for release.
A Pattern of Predatory Behaviour Uncovered
One of the women, named only as Jenni, suffered years of coercive and controlling abuse at the hands of Swan, who was already a convicted sex offender when he targeted the vulnerable 16-year-old online. Despite a previous conviction for sexually assaulting a teenage girl and a call to police from her concerned family, he managed to whisk the teen – almost ten years his junior – nearly 200 miles from her home in Sheffield to Jedburgh, in Roxburgh.
There, she was manipulated, coerced, had her movements tracked, was threatened, raped, and ultimately left fearing for her life. He even threatened to take his own life when she tried to leave him. She and three other victims – one of whom made her own allegation of rape while married to Swan five years before he targeted Jenni – now share their stories in a new BBC documentary titled 'Lover, Liar, Predator'.
The Documentary That Exposed His Depravity
The programme, available on iPlayer, details his depravity and subsequent conviction after all four women joined forces to help secure a unanimous guilty verdict that saw him jailed for a minimum of six years last May. He was given an Order of Lifelong Restriction, meaning he will be monitored for the rest of his life should he be allowed out on parole.
Sentencing now 40-year-old Swan, who also has a previous conviction for possessing indecent images of children, at the High Court in Inverness, Judge Lord Weir said his victims' combined evidence illustrated his capacity for 'violent, manipulative, self-centred and, frankly, sinister behaviour'.
Police Inaction and the Turning Point
Police initially said there was not enough evidence to charge Swan with raping Jenni when she reported him in 2019, and he was released pending further investigations. However, a year-and-a-half later, a text from her friend Shannon set the wheels in motion – eight years after the women last spoke.
The women's friendship ended after they had been celebrating Jenni's engagement in 2013 when Swan raped Shannon in the spare room she was sleeping in. He then did the same to his wife-to-be before claiming he had consensual sex with her friend, sparking the fallout.
A Chance Reconnection That Changed Everything
But 'on the off chance' in 2021, Shannon noticed Jenni's social media page showed she no longer appeared to be with Swan and decided to reach out, telling her what really happened. This prompted them both to give statements to the police, allowing officers to put together a profile of the 'dangerous' predator.
With the help of his first wife, who now runs a programme to help other victims of domestic violence and sexual assault, they also encouraged another one of his victims, who he targeted while in a relationship with Jenni, to come forward.
Further Victims and Their Ordeals
The woman, known only as Robyn, told the documentary he had such a hold over her that she was left with no money and no keys. On one occasion, he even locked her outside in sub-zero temperatures.
Swan's first wife, Natalie, said she was 'terrified' when a jury found him not guilty in 2005 after she alleged he violently raped her, giving birth to their son prematurely just days later. She told the programme: 'Having this tiny, very sick baby who was having his lungs artificially pumped by a ventilator, all the time I was just thinking this is Aaron's fault, there needs to be some consequence.'
She added: 'I wasn't reporting the rape because I wanted to report it for me, I was reporting it because he had done this to our son.' But after he was found not guilty, she said: 'I felt terrified that he would be able to go on and harm more people.'
Escalating Violence and a Frightening Threat
Years later, after Jenni threatened to leave Swan, he strangled her and pinned her up against a car, telling his sister 'the only way I will get over Jenni is if I kill her'. The now 32-year-old admitted hearing those words was the 'turning point'. She said: 'I panicked at that point. I knew that if I didn't do something, I could see how it was going to end and me potentially being killed by him.'
Looking at all his past relationships, it is a pattern of behaviour, and I don't think he will ever change.' Shannon added: 'I don't think he wants to change. I don't think he sees an issue with how he treats women, and I hope he never gets out because I know he would just do it again.'
The Fight for Justice and Systemic Failures
The women admitted that it was the fear of him harming other women that pushed them to fight for justice. They also believe that had police or social services intervened sooner, as he had two previous convictions, it could have 'changed the course of what happened to us'.
Last May, Swan was found guilty of six charges between 2013 and 2020, including domestic abuse, sexual assault, and four incidents of rape against three separate women, two of whom were his partners at the time. 'Lover, Liar, Predator' is available to watch on BBC iPlayer, shedding light on the importance of victim solidarity and the ongoing challenges in prosecuting serial offenders.
