A serial rapist has been driven out of his home after neighbours surrounded his house and refused to move until he was removed.

John Locke was rehoused in the town of Aviemore, Scotland, a few months ago after being released from jail.

He had served 10 years of an 15-year sentence for the rape of a 15-year-old girl in Inverness and had previous convictions for the rape of a 16-year-old girl in Airdrie 1988 and another rape in 1983 in Glasgow.

But at 7.30pm on Sunday, a crowd of around 70 neighbours surrounded his home and waited until police took Locke away.


They had become suspicious of his past after noticing him being repeatedly dropped off at the house in a police van and being escorted to the address by uniformed personnel.



One neighbour, Sam Wilson, 27, said: ‘He was coming for home visits with G4S prior to moving in. I think it was about once a week over about a month.

‘They were parking out the back about 100 yards away. It was like a minibus with blacked-out windows. It was about mid-day, a lot of people in the street saw him. He always had two officers with him.’

MORE: Police force throws serious shade at those who dub them doughnut eaters

MORE: Eight South African policemen convicted of murdering man they dragged behind a van

She added: ‘It really shocked me that they would think this would go unnoticed. I’m really shocked that they thought this was going to be accepted. I think they thought we were just going to roll over. It’s so close back to where he last struck. Why up here? It does scare us.’

One local, who did not wish to be named, was so worried that they went through Locke’s recycling bin and found a prescription with his name on it, which helped lead to his identification.

Mother-of-two Natacha Flamand, who lives on the same street, said: ‘Alarm bells started ringing at the fact that somebody had moved in next door who had been released from prison.

‘He was removed for his own safety, not for ours. When he got in the back of the police van he was sat smirking. There was no chanting, no singing. They were waiting for the police to remove him.’

(Picture: Google Map)

A video shows that emotions became heated when Locke was finally escorted from the ground floor flat.

Natacha added: ‘They shouted quite a bit of abuse at him as he was escorted out of the house.’

A Police Scotland spokeswoman said: ‘We attended on Sunday night at around 7.30pm. There were around 70 people outside the address. Enquiries are ongoing.’