A man who raped a mother-of-two and then burned her alive was handed a lighter minimum prison sentence due to his younger age and early guilty plea.

Jill Barclay, 47, was attacked while walking home after a night out in Aberdeen last September.

Rhys Bennett, 23, who had followed his victim from a pub in the Dyce area, repeatedly stamped on her head and body, smacked her head against a downpipe, compressed her neck and dragged her along the ground.

He then raped her, before later returning to pour petrol on her and setting her alight.

During sentencing, Lord Arthurson branded the violence “feral”.

He told Bennett: “The available evidence tells the horrible truth that your victim was still living at the time that the fire was set. To be crystal clear – you burned her alive.”

At the High Court in Edinburgh on Wednesday, Bennett pleaded guilty to rape, murder and attempting to defeat the ends of justice.

The labourer, from Ballingry in Fife, was sentenced to life in prison with at least 24 years behind bars and was placed on the sex offenders register indefinitely.

Lord Arthurson, who branded Bennett’s behaviour “unimaginably wicked and indeed medieval in their barbarity”, said the accused would have been facing at least 29 years in jail had it not been for the sentencing guidelines for under-25s and his early guilty plea.

Offenders normally receive a lesser sentence for early guilty pleas.

Jailing Bennett for life, Lord Arthurson said: “I have determined on the particular facts of this case that the notional headline punishment part of that sentence should sit at a period of 29 years.

“Taking into account, as I require to, the circumstances of your early plea and the engaged guidelines for the sentencing of offenders under 25, and approaching these discounting elements on an in cumulo basis, I fix the actual punishment part of your life sentence at a period of 24 years.

“On charge two, the charge of attempting to defeat the ends of justice, I impose a concurrent determinate sentence of four years imprisonment, discounted from a period of six years.”

Read more:
Man jailed for raping and murdering mum-of-two
Man jailed for life over murder after burned body found near children’s play are

New guidelines for sentencing under-25s came into effect in Scotland in January 2022.

The Scottish Sentencing Council recommended a more “individualistic approach” to take account of the perpetrator’s life experiences.

The changes were made to help reduce reoffending by focusing on rehabilitation rather than punishment.

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The guidance reads: “A custodial sentence should only be imposed on a young person when the court is satisfied that no other sentence is appropriate.

“If a custodial sentence is imposed on a young person, it should be shorter than that which would have been imposed on an older person for the same, or a similar, offence.”

Read more:
Crown Office to appeal sentence of man who was spared jail for raping 13-year-old girl
The guidelines for sentencing under-25s in Scotland

The guidelines recently came under the spotlight following the case of Sean Hogg, 21, who was spared jail for raping a 13-year-old girl in Midlothian. The Crown Office has since announced it intends to appeal the sentence.

Ms Barclay, a proposals engineer who worked for energy firm Petrofac, was described as a “deeply loved life partner, mother and daughter” by her family following Bennett’s sentencing.

They added: “She didn’t deserve to die that day and especially in the unspeakable, brutal way it happened.

“This man has taken so much from us and changed our lives forever.”

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