A woman held hostage for months by a brutal rapist has begged for him to be kept behind bars after being told he could be freed early.
Evil Jerry McMurray battered and abused seven women at various locations in Fife between January 1997 and July 2013.
McMurray was handed a life sentence in 2015, with a punishment part of eight-and-a-half years. That means he is now eligible for parole.
Now one of his victims, Heather Ratcliffe, has bravely waived her right to anonymity to demand he is kept in jail.
She said: “When I was told he was eligible to apply for parole last year, all of the fear I felt came rushing back.
“I’ve had a few years of peace, knowing he was locked up, but now all the anxiety and fear has surfaced again.
“Why should we, his victims, be living in fear of this monster roaming the streets again when we were told he was going to prison for life?
“Now I’m trying to find out if he’s actually applied and been refused or if he’s planning to be free anytime soon.”
Heather was repeatedly raped by McMurray when she was just 17. She was held prisoner by him for four months and only escaped his clutches after piecing together a smashed mobile phone to call for help.
Even after he was jailed, he tormented his victims with a series of poison pen letters – including one to the Daily Record – protesting his innocence and accusing the women of “making up stories”.
Heather, who suffers from post traumatic stress as a result of her ordeal, added: “At the start of the year, I realised it was 2023 and the year he could be free even though the judge at his trial said he may never be released.
“I am signed up to the Victim Notification Scheme and they said he was eligible from December 31, 2022. I find myself looking out my window and watching for him passing my house even though I live in a new area.
“I’m looking at faces in the street panicking I’m going to see him. What he put me and the other women through cannot be forgotten by the parole board, should he apply.
“I hope they will listen to the women and realise this man is a dangerous predator who can never be free. A leopard doesn’t change its spots and if anything I think the fact we spoke out against him will have made him angrier and out for revenge. I feel terrorised.”
McMurray once broke Heather’s ribs with a dumbbell before launching a vicious sexual assault. She escaped her four-month incarceration when police burst through her door after tracing the 999 call on the phone, which took her three weeks to repair.
Heather, whose face and new location we are not revealing, said: “He shouted at me in court that I was f***ing dead and I’ve no doubt if he is freed he’ll try to make good on that.
“I would implore the powers that be to realise the danger myself and the other women would be in if he was freed.
“I need them to remember the horrors he inflicted on myself such as beating my puppy, stubbing cigarettes out on me, sexually assaulting me and beating me.
“The other women had similar stories. The man is a monster and he needs to stay in prison for life.”
McMurray, now 43, was found guilty in September 2014 of 14 charges of rape, sexual assault and assault. He was sentenced in May 2015 and told he must serve at least eight-and-a-half years. He was also handed an Order for Lifelong Restriction.
Between 1997 and 2013, he abducted, raped and sexually assaulted his victims, holding them against their will before launching ferocious attacks.
He would punch, kick, strangle, use weapons and threaten the women, spraying deodorant into the eyes of one, stabbing another with a fork.
But Heather warned: “He won’t care about the OLR. He will find a way to dodge any restrictions. He is just beyond evil and I live in fear of the day he’s out.”
A spokesman for the SPS said: “We do not comment on individual prisoners.”
Don't miss the latest news from around Scotland and beyond - Sign up to our daily newsletter here.
