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Edinburgh Live
Edinburgh Live
National
Sarah Vesty & John-Paul Clark & Kris Gourlay

Young Midlothian mum living below Da Vinci rapist 'terrified in her own home'

A young Midlothian mum has said how she no longer feels safe in her own home after 'Da Vinci rapist' Robert Greens was housed above her.

Daniella Quin was horrified to find out that the 45-year-old predator was living above her, with various other members of the community staging various protests after discovering the news. It is understood that Greens was removed for his own protection at one point.

The Daily Record reports how Greens savagely raped and assaulted a student near Rosslyn Chapel in 2005. His 19-year-old Dutch victim suffered severe injuries, which medics initially thought had been caused by a car crash, during a sustained knifepoint attack which saw him jailed for ten years.

READ MORE: Edinburgh police arrest two men in connection with disturbance on quiet street

Residents in Danderhall discovered Greens' new location last week, with local councillors also calling for his removal from the community. However, Daniella has said that the knock-on effect of living below Greens has had a terrifying impact on her life. The mum-of-two said when she found out, she wasn't actually in the property, but was consequently scared to go back home.

She said: ""When I found out about Robert Greens being here, I was actually in hospital with my newborn daughter. It has been a hard week because she was very unwell and on a ventilator for a few days. I was terrified because I saw it on Facebook and my wee boy was here with my mum. I couldn't be there with my boy to protect him. I got my mum to take him to hers until we were home.

Daniella has boarded her windows and painted a sign informing residents to stop aiming for her windows. (The Daily Record)

"He lives upstairs from us and I thought there was something strange about him because we never really saw him much or heard any noise but also because nobody had ever visited the house. I only ever saw him occasionally take the bins out with a mask on.

"I was so freaked out when I found out and everything made sense. I didn't even want to come home. I've had to have my babies stay with my mum and dad and I've had to take them out and drive around in the car for their naps and for dinner because they won't settle with everything that's going on."

Daniella added how she has even had to board up her windows after projectiles were aimed at her building, and has left a painted message informing locals that Green lives above her. She explained: "I don't feel safe in my own home and will have to move if they won't move him. We've also been terrified because of the angry people throwing things and attacking our home by mistake.

A window of the flat Greens is reportedly staying in has been smashed. (The Daily Record)

"We had our child woken up and crying after 11 at night with eggs thrown at the windows. There was egg all over my son's window and smashed glass from the broken window above.

"On Friday night I was getting my son ready for his bath when I heard loud bangs on our living room window, where my newborn daughter was sleeping in her basket.

"My partner was shouting that they were throwing rocks at the window and I ran out in a blind rage to shout and tell them to stop attacking us. My one-year-old son was at the door with me and they kept attacking the house, throwing apples and eggs and whatever else.

"People are aiming from a distance and missing and hitting us by mistake but some are attacking us because they think it's his house. The police watched as I was hit when my house was under attack and sat in their van doing nothing.

"They said there was no point doing anything essentially because then they would just get attacked also. So what is the point in them being there? My neighbours have had people mistake their windows for his and had to leave their home for safety.

"My other neighbour even had people videoing and trying his door. I've had people mistake mine for his too which is terrifying, especially if someone smashed our door in looking for him.

"I phoned the council because the house wasn't safe for my babies and they stated they wouldn't do anything to re-home us because we have children under 16 and that we would need to get a shared hostel.

"People are more fed up as the council do nothing because we need and want him gone from the property. They're getting louder and more livid with the situation.

"There were air horns and drums going off on Sunday which terrified my one-year old son but it's going to keep happening until the council do what's right and have him and his possessions out of there.

"There's people more deserving of a lovely family home than this scum. I get he needs to live somewhere but why house him in Midlothian, the place he actually committed his crime. And why place him with access to women and children in areas that would be a rapist's dreamland to commit a crime again."

Greens was freed from prison in 2012, having served two-thirds of his sentence. The following year, he was returned to jail after he broke one of the conditions of his release by visiting the hometown of his former wife. He was again released in 2017 but hauled back to prison after another breach.

A Police Scotland spokesperson said: "Police received a number of reports between Friday, 7 October, and Sunday, 9 October, 2022, of people gathering outside a property in Neatoune Court, Danderhall.

"Officers attended on each occasion, gave suitable advice and the groups later dispersed. No arrests were made."

Midlothian Council have been contacted for comment.

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