Ayrshire child rapist back in dock over new relationship

AYRSHIRE CHILD RAPIST BACK IN DOCK OVER NEW RELATIONSHIP

A NORTH Ayrshire rapist who was jailed after getting his child victim pregnant was back in the dock after he lied to a woman about his identity and hid his relationship with her from police.

Gary Dryden's association with the woman came to light after police were alerted to a protest outside his Greenock flat in August last year.

The 27-year-old, formerly of Irvine, failed to report the relationship to Police Scotland's Offender Management Unit within 48 hours of its commencement, breaching the terms of a Sexual Offences Prevention Order made at the High Court in Glasgow in 2018.

The order was handed down to Dryden alongside a prison sentence for the rape of a 12-year-old girl he had met through Facebook in Kilwinning in 2016.

He was aged 17 at the time of the offence.

He was sentenced to two years and ten months in prison for the offence.

Dryden recently appeared at Greenock Sheriff Court from custody, where he pleaded guilty to breaching the SOPO in Greenock between August 1, 2025 and August 20, 2025.

On August 22 last year, police were made aware of a protest taking place outside Dryden’s property in Murdieston Street.

Officers also received a report that he had been in a relationship with a woman, who was later traced.

She confirmed she had met Dryden at the end of July 2025 and that the pair had been in a relationship for around three weeks.

The woman told police he had provided the name ‘Johnny Smith’.

She ended the relationship after discovering Dryden’s identity and learning of his previous conviction.

When he was arrested, Dryden told police: “I wasn’t in a relationship with her.” Dryden's defence solicitor told the court he is currently subject to a community payback order in relation to a separate matter.

Sheriff James Varney requested that a background report be prepared by social workers before sentencing Dryden.

He will return to court on February 18.