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Daniel Wilson, 47, seized the woman and her son as they walked on Arthur’s Seat in Edinburgh’s Holyrood Park in the historic attack.

He repeatedly pushed the young mum, causing her to slip at the cliff edge, before threatening to throw the pair off the precipice.

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The woman – who was holding her son, aged between two and four at the time of the attack – struggled to avoid falling, a court heard.

Wilson has been sentenced to five years behind bars for the attack which took place between April 1996 and April 1998.

Historic offending

Wilson, a prisoner at HMP Barlinnie in Glasgow, appeared for sentence at the High Court in Livingston today after earlier being found guilty of two assault charges.

Defence advocate Drew McKenzie stressed that his client was in his early 20s and a first offender with no criminal record at the time of the assaults.

Since then there had since been a 15 or 16 year hiatus in the accused’s offending between the assaults until his conviction for sexual offences in 2015.

He said recent research and guidelines issued by the Sentencing Council had concluded that courts should pay regard to offending by people under the age of 25.

He added that there was no need for a risk assessment order or a lifelong restriction order in Wilson’s case because he posed no threat of physical or psychological harm to the public.

Jurors earlier returned a guilty verdict to a charge that Wilson repeatedly assaulted the boy at addresses in Edinburgh between April 1994 and April 1998.

Those assaults took place between the infant being born and his fourth birthday.

The jury also returned a guilty verdict to the Arthur’s Seat charge which stated that he placed the mother and son in a 'state of fear and alarm' and placed their lives 'in danger'.

The incident at Arthur’s Seat took place on an occasion between April 1996 and April 1998.

Acquitted of rape allegation

He was acquitted of an allegation that he raped the little boy who was at the centre of the Arthur’s Seat assault.

Neither the woman nor her son can be named for legal reasons.

Wilson is currently serving a 15 year prison term for repeatedly raping a child under the age of 13 and downloading more than 1,000 images of child pornography. His name will remain on the Sex Offenders’ Register for life.

Passing sentence, judge Lord Kinclaven told Wilson he had taken into account everything said on his behalf as well as the fact that he was currently serving a 'very significant' sentence of imprisonment.

'No alternative to custody'

He said he also had to take into account that the jury had found Wilson guilty of two serious offences – the assaults on the young boy and the assault to danger of life on the woman and her son.

“In all the circumstances there is no alternative to a significant custodial sentence, however I’m not satisfied that the statutory criteria for a risk assessment order have been satisfied in your case.

“I’m satisfied that it’s appropriate that I proceed to sentence today without calling for what’s called a risk assessment report.

“I’ve borne in mind your relative youth at the time of offending as well as the totality of the sentence you will be subjected to.”

'Repeated abuse'

He sentenced Wilson to five years imprisonment and ordered that the sentence should take effect on the expiry of all sentences previously imposed.

During Wilson’s trial last year, the jury heard evidence that he subjected the boy to repeated abuse when he was a very young child.

Although his victim was very young at the time of the assaults, he still remembers what took place and had told adults about what happened to him.

The jury was told that the youngster remembered Wilson getting angry when he went out with his mother to Arthur’s Seat when he was in a pram and buggy.

His mother told police about the accused repeatedly pushing her while she was carrying her son in the park.

She told detectives she was terrified about falling off because she was at the cliff edge.

Wilson’s 15-year a sentence was imposed for crimes he committed during a spell living in Wales.

A jury at Mold Crown Court in Flintshire convicted him in April 2015 of five charges of raping a child under the age of 13.

He was also found guilty of making indecent images of children by downloading them from the Internet and possessing more than 1,000 indecent images.

On that occasion, judge Niclas Parry told Wilson that he had been convicted of 'the most wicked offences' and said he had 'an unhealthy interest in the most extreme abuse of particularly young children'.

Child rapist who shoved mother and son towards Arthur's Seat cliff jailed for 5 years