Army captain raped woman in her own home after meeting on dating app

An Army officer has been jailed after subjecting a woman he met through the dating app Hinge to a sexual assault and rape ordeal.

Calum MacGregor attacked the victim at her home in Edinburgh after claiming that they were “getting on really well” after meeting up.

MacGregor, 30, an Army captain whose address was given as a parachute engineer regiment in Suffolk, had denied raping the woman on December 14, 2021, and maintained that sex was consensual and that he had a reasonable belief of consent.

But a jury at the High Court in Edinburgh found MacGregor guilty and he was remanded in custody ahead of sentencing next month.

The trial judge, Alison Stirling, told jurors: “It has been a difficult and anxious case for you.”

MacGregor told the court that he believed the woman was consenting to sexual activity and said: “At no point in the evening did she say ‘no’ or ‘stop’.”

He said he was “pretty horrified” and “shocked” when he later saw images of bruising on the woman.

Defence solicitor advocate Ewen Roy asked if he was shocked by the nature of the bruising and he said: “Yes.”

Mr Roy asked MacGregor: “Did you mean to hurt her in that way?” and he replied: “No, absolutely not.”

He told the court that after school, he went to St Andrews University, where he was in the Officer Training Corps before going through the army officer selection course.

The first offender told the jury: “I have never been in trouble before this incident or since.”

MacGregor, who was on bail during his trial, was placed on the sex offenders’ register following his conviction and the judge adjourned sentence for the preparation of a background report on him.