A rapist released early from prison remains a danger to women insists one of his victims.
James Keaney is back on the streets after serving two thirds of a 12 year sentence handed down in 2013 following a horrific catalogue of abuse. The 45-year-old will remain on licence for the duration of the term, meaning he can be sent back to jail if he misbehaves. But the 40-year-old Glasgow mum who suffered at his hands warned other women against getting involved with him after he repeatedly raped and beat her for years, the Daily Record reports.
She said: “He had to be locked up to keep other women safe and I felt I had to do my bit or I’d regret it. That’s why I’m speaking up now. I don’t want anyone else to go through what I did.
“I just pray he doesn’t find a woman who doesn’t know about his past, or one who think she can change him. Single mothers have to be especially careful as he terrorised my kids. The guy is a monster and will not change.”
READ MORE: Tommy Sheridan declared bankrupt over £82,000 legal bill
The woman, who wants to be known as Grace, added: “I know what he is like. He is vindictive.
"He is the sort of guy who bides his time and never forgets. I will do all I can to keep myself and my family safe, but I want everyone to be safe from James Keaney.
“Prison was the best place for him. Women in Glasgow were safer when he was locked up.”
Keaney was convicted of sexually assaulting and beating both Grace and another women. During their evidence in court they both said he could be charming at first, but became increasingly controlling and violent as the relationship developed.
Grace went on: “We used to go out and have fun, but it changed gradually after I fell pregnant to him. I thought he loved kids, but he just wanted me pregnant to have greater control of me.
“He wasn’t keen on me seeing friends or seeing much of my family, so he isolated me, even though he was out working a lot and I was left in on my own. The real change came one night when I was well into my pregnancy.
“I woke up to find him touching me. He wanted sex.
“I said: ‘No, I’ve had a bad day. I’m exhausted and need to sleep.’ He said: ‘Don’t be daft. A man has his needs, and I need you now.’
“There was an edge in his voice I didn’t recognise. He was bending my feet back and it felt as though he’d snap my ankles.
“Then he did it to my hands. I begged him to stop as I was scared we’d wake my kids. But he carried on and took what he wanted.
“I was stunned. I was pregnant with his child and he was raping me. Then, as if nothing unusual had happened, he rolled off and went to sleep.
“From that day on, my life changed. He’d taken off his mask, and he didn’t bother to pretend anymore.”
Grace recalls her young son watching as she was brutally beaten and thrown about like a rag doll. She tried to pretend it was a game so he wouldn't be frightened, but the little lad howled in fear.
Grace said: “I was young and felt trapped. I was also terrified of him.
"I wanted to leave. But he told me he’d always find me and hurt me.
“I was with him for more than three years, and most of the time was sheer misery. I was locked in the flat, beaten regularly and must have been raped 100 times or more.
“My biggest regret was failing to get away, for the sake of the kids. No child should grow up in that atmosphere, and I really struggled to cope with the thought that I was failing them.
“I did try to get away. We were on the ground floor, and sometimes I’d lift the kids out the window then run off.
"I ended up in homeless hostels and emergency sheltered accommodation run by Scottish Women’s Aid. He always found me and came to take me back.
“He’d tell me he’d fight me for the kids and win. Other times he’d cry and promise to get help and change. But he never did.
“He always seemed to know where I was. I found out years later that he had set the security code on my phone so that he could dial in and listen to my messages anytime from any phone.
“Long before the public became aware of phone-hacking, he was hacking my phone to keep tabs on me. So I’d be hauled back, defeated and feeling hopeless.
“The endless rapes and beatings continued, and he seemed to be getting more frightening all the time. He would do mad things like cover me with a sheet and thump me, saying that was so ‘the bruises stay on the inside and don’t show’.
“Eventually, I managed to get away. An order was made that he couldn’t live with me and my kids or come to our home, but whenever I made an arrangement to meet my Mum at a shopping centre, he’d turn up.
“It was terrifying that he seemed to know all my movements.”
Grace eventually managed to move on for a few years until the police knocked on her door in 2013. Another woman had reported him doing similar things to her and while she wasn't eager to face a court case, she felt the need to help.
She recalled: “It broke my heart that there were other victims, and I realised that if none of us stood up to him, he’d just go on like this forever and that many other women would suffer."
Grace said she no longer fears Keaney but has gone to her local police station to make them aware he might want revenge against her. Police Scotland said a risk assessment is always carried out in such cases and that a number of measures could be taken, such as providing specialist alarms.
The level of protection to be offered to Grace has not yet been decided.
She said: “When I gave evidence in court I looked him in the eye to let him know he was a bully and that I wasn’t scared of him.”
The woman who initiated the police investigation withdrew her complaint, but Keaney was still tried over his brutality towards Grace and another woman.
Detective Superintendent Gillian Faulds said: “Police Scotland does issue specialist personal alarms as part of considering and implementing a wide range of safety planning options based on a thorough risk assessment of each case.
“If you report domestic abuse to the police, we will listen to you and take you seriously and reports will be thoroughly investigated.”
READ NEXT:
Fred West: The Glasgow Girls uncovers killer's life in city and Castlemilk ice cream van horror
Ann Heron murder and why the Glasgow mum's killer remains a mystery today
Katie Archibald 'feels less alone' as fans share words of comfort after Rab Wardell death in Glasgow
Mum living off-grid in Glasgow tower block in protest over huge fuel bills
Thug slashed three strangers in 90 minutes after early prison release for previous knife crime
