A Scots mum has told how she doesn’t feel safe in her own home and was forced to barricade a window after the ‘Da Vinci rapist’ Robert Greens was housed above her. Daniella Quin was horrified to discover her upstairs neighbour is the 45-year-old sex predator, who was savagely raped and battered a student near Rosslyn Chapel, Midlothian, 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 10 years. Residents in Danderhall discovered his new location last week and have staged several angry protests outside the property in Neatoune Court.
But mum-of-two Daniella, who gave birth to her poorly daughter Brianna last week, told how her own home had mistakenly been targeted, forcing her to send her children away. The 25-year-old said: “When I found out about Robert Greens being here, I was actually in hospital with my newborn daughter.
“It’s 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.
“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 was forced to board up one of her windows and paint a message on it explaining that Greens lived above her home. But the attacks continued leaving the young mum feeling more and more terrified as projectiles were launched at the property.
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.
“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.”
A Midlothian Council spokesman said: “We do not comment on individual cases. Public safety is of paramount importance and, where appropriate, we work with our partners to ensure that there are robust processes and procedures in place.”
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