Rapist who made victims call him ‘master’ while wearing dog masks and collars is jailed

A 35-year-old man in Scotland has been jailed for 11 years after being found guilty of rape and domestic abuse.

Warning: this article contains content that some readers could find disturbing.

Scott Lannister made his vulnerable victims wear dog collars and tags, living at his flat in Stirling as “house pets” and forced to call him “master”.

The offences took place during 2019 and 2020, and Lannister’s victims were subjected to repeated physical and sexual abuse, BBC News reported.

During a high court hearing in Glasgow on Wednesday (12 April), Lannister was given a 20-year extended sentence with 11 years behind bars and nine under supervision.

He was also put on the sex offenders register and given an indefinite non-harassment order against his victims.

Lannister was found guilty of three counts of rape and two of domestic abuse after a trial at the high court in Stirling in January.

Giving evidence in the case, one of the victims, an autistic man who was 26 at the time, said the pair met on Telegram, with Lannister paying for his travel to Stirling.

After meeting at the train station, Lannister immediately fitted him with a collar and tag, eventually becoming “very aggressive”, the victim said.

The victim was forced to wear a dog collar and neoprene puppy mask “pretty much 24/7”, as well as sleeping on a dog bed in a cupboard.

Lannister would grab the victim by the collar and rape him, also carving letters into his back with a scalpel.

Video seized by police, and seen at the trial, showed Lannister, who is also known as Scott Hanlon, physically abusing a second victim, now aged 21.

Police had been called by a man who had delivered pizzas to the flat and saw the victim’s face.

Both victims told the court that they were made to turn over their benefit money to Lannister, who was described as long-term medically unemployed, BBC News stated.

Lannister denied the offences, claiming the men consented. At sentencing, his lawyer, Bert Kerrigan KC, said his client saw himself “as part of a subgroup in society who choose as part of this lifestyle to be part of this puppy play”.

While searching Lannister’s flat, police found surgical blades, a wooden baton, metal chains, rubber dog-masks and numerous other dog-related items such as collars, leads, beds, tags and a large padded dog crate.

In 2007, Lannister was jailed for four years for sexual offences against children, BBC News added.

National procurator fiscal for high court sexual offences, Fraser Gibson, urged victims of similar crimes to seek help.

He said Lannister’s victims showed “great bravery” in speaking out and hoped the sentencing “offers them some degree of comfort as they attempt to move on in their lives”.

In a statement, detective inspector Forbes Wilson, of the Forth Valley Public Protection Unit, welcomed Lannister’s sentence, for what called degrading, violent attacks.

“I would urge anyone who wishes to report an offence of this nature to come forward, regardless of the passage of time. We will investigate it thoroughly and you will be fully supported by officers and our partner agencies,” he added.