A man who conned and raped women he met on dating apps was reported to police nine times before his arrest, it has been revealed.
Christopher Harkins was jailed for 12 years in July 2024 after he was convicted of a catalogue of serious sexual, violent and financial offences against women he met online. The predator targeted a number of women across Scotland, with victims in Glasgow, Lanarkshire, Inverclyde, Edinburgh, Stirling, Paisley and West Lothian, between 2013 and 2019.
The 38-year-old preyed on women he stalked on apps while pretending to be a “perfect guy”. Harkins painted himself as generous, successful and charming, but was really a violent, thieving, rapist. He had a sinister agenda, targeting women who were smart, attractive and career-driven.
He carried on with his offending until 2020 before he was eventually arrested. And now BBC Scotland reports prior to this point, the predatory conman was reported to police nine times. Police Scotland received the reports from women who had met Harkins through dating sites including Tinder.
They said they told police he had recorded intimate pictures and videos of them without his consent and he went on to threaten them, stealing tens of thousands of pounds, reported the Daily Record. None of the reports resulted in criminal charges at the time and his victims said their original complaints were dismissed as “civil matters”.
One victim tried to report Harkins in 2019 after she transferred £3,247 to him for a holiday booking that didn’t exist. She said she and other victims felt let down. The woman, who remains anonymous, told BBC Scotland: “The sheer number of people that came forward, I think it’s clear that there were opportunities to investigate. There must have been a way that he could have been stopped before he was.”
When the victim initially went to a police station to ask for help, she said she was told: “There’s not really much we can do if your boyfriend doesn’t want to take you on holiday”. She said: “It was very dismissive. They seemed to be a little bit unsure of how you would deal with that or how you would categorise that. I was asked whether or not I had slept with him at that point, which I didn’t feel was relevant. I remember feeling really frustrated.”
Another woman, who will also remain anonymous, met Harkins in 2018. She and Harkins progressed into a relationship and she told how he went on to steal from her and recorded an intimate video without consent before suggesting he would send it to her parents. She said: “He was trying to have sex with me while I was asleep.
“The only memory I have was discomfort. I remember feeling in pain. I remember feeling uncomfortable. I remember feeling confused. I tried to push him away. I remember this was a time where he grabbed me by the neck.” Harkins was convicted of 19 offences including rape, assault, recording an intimate video without consent, threatening and abusive behaviour and four other sexual offences.
He also admitted defrauding nine women out of more than £214,000. He was sentenced to 12 years in jail and has been added to the sex offenders register indefinitely. Non-harassment orders, preventing Harkins from contacting or attempting to contact 10 victims, were also granted for an indefinite period.
DCI Lyndsay Laird led the Police Scotland investigation into Harkins. She said it was difficult to say why the nine reports weren’t investigated earlier. She said: “Each one was reported at different stages, so they weren’t all reported together, they were reported in different divisions throughout Police Scotland. There was no reports of physical or sexual abuse ever made to the police at that time.
“It was mainly around the financial situation, which when they’re treated in isolation, they have been taken as civil investigations. I think it’s safe to say policing has evolved massively since the time those initial reports have come in.”
Asked if Police Scotland would apologise to the victims who tried to report Harkins in the years before he was arrested, DCI Laird said: “I think that’s a very difficult question to answer. I think they’ve got a successful court result now, based on the investigation that was conducted. I would say with everything that we’ve put in place since then, I would hope that that experience wouldn’t be replicated now.”
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