MAN ADMITS TO MULTIPLE OFFENCES ACROSS THE HIGHLANDS AND MORAY
Sean Hartley, originally from Forres, committed a series of serious offences against multiple women across the Highlands and Moray from 2004 to 2019.He was scheduled to face trial at the High Court in Inverness today, facing a total of 26 charges.
However, his defence solicitor, Brian McConnachie, informed Lord Mulholland that Hartley wished to plead guilty to some of the charges.
Lord Mulholland has scheduled Hartley's sentencing for tomorrow.
Hartley admitted guilt to seven charges, which include three counts of rape, three counts of serious assault, and one charge of engaging in a course of domestic abuse.
The charges are as follows: - Charge 1: Between February 25, 2004, and December 31, 2005, Hartley repeatedly assaulted a woman in Elgin, Forres, and Nairn by punching, slapping, pushing, grabbing her hair, holding a pillow over her face, throwing objects, kicking her repeatedly, and spitting on her, causing her injury.
- Charge 2: On July 9, 2005, he raped a woman inside a house in Forres.
- Charge 3: From June 1, 2008, to November 19, 2009, in Burghead, Hartley repeatedly punched and slapped a woman’s head and damaged jewellery from her neck at various times.
- Charge 4: Between February 19, 2010, and August 31, 2014, at multiple locations including properties in Inverness, Culloden, the city centre, Merkinch area, a bar on Keppoch Road, as well as a house in Forres, Hartley assaulted a woman by slapping, punching, and compressing her neck to restrict her breathing.
He also threw hot liquid at her and spat on her.
- Charge 5: During the same period and locations as Charge 4, he sexually assaulted and raped a woman, including acts of breath restriction.
- Charge 6: On July 28, 2017, at a residence in Forres, Hartley raped a woman.
- Charge 7: From April 1, 2014, to December 10, 2019, at locations including Thurso, Forres, Inverness, and a children’s playpark, he subjected a woman to domestic abuse.
This involved threatening to kill, name-calling, neck compression, physical assault, throwing hot liquid, spitting, isolating her from her family and friends by deleting contacts, controlling her social media access, choosing her clothing, monitoring her activities, and demanding photos of her whereabouts.
