Disgraced Edinburgh police officer who escaped jail for sex attack caged after admitting second assault

Roderick Keith, 55, attacked the woman while her husband was upstairs and she was sleeping on a sofa following the night out socialising in Edinburgh.

The former firearms officer sneaked out of the bed he was sharing with his own wife before putting his hand down the victim’s underwear and penetrating her with his fingers.

The disgusted woman later told her husband what had happened to her and Keith and his wife were thrown out of the couple’s home in Edinburgh in August 2022.

The pervert then sent WhatsApp pleading messages to the victim saying “I’m so sorry - I’m heartbroken” and “I have no words”.

After speaking to her husband the woman decided to report the attack to the police and Keith was later arrested and charged.

Edinburgh Sheriff Court was told this is the second sex attack carried out by Keith in recent years after he was convicted of sexually assaulting a male friend after he attended a stag do in 2018. On that occasion Keith, who was still a serving police officer and had previously been commended for his bravery, kissed the man on the head and forced his hands down his boxer shorts.

Edinburgh Sheriff Court was told this is the second sex attack carried out by Roderick Keith in recent years.

The married father-of-two, of Grangemouth, was found guilty following a trial at Falkirk Sheriff Court and was placed on the sex offenders register and sentenced to nine months supervision in 2020. Keith later resigned from his position with Police Scotland before a disciplinary investigation into his conduct could be completed.

On Friday, August 16, Sheriff Charles Walls told the former officer he had committed “a clear breach of trust” and his latest attack has had “an awful effect” on the woman.

Sheriff Walls said: “It was a clear breach of trust as the complainer and her husband were your friends and you abused that trust in a quite terrible way.

“Due to the serious nature of the offence it seems to me there is no option but to impose a custodial sentence on you today.”

Keith was jailed for 61 weeks and placed on the sex offenders register for 10 years.

The court heard Keith and his wife had been on a night out socialising with the victim and her husband before heading back to the couple’s Edinburgh home on August 13, 2022.

The woman fell asleep on the sofa and her husband retired to his bedroom. Keith and his wife also went to bed in the spare room. The court was told the victim later woke when she felt “a hand on her underwear”. She initially thought it was her husband but “opened her eyes to see the accused looking at her”.

The distressed woman told her attacker “no, no you shouldn’t have done that” before leaving the room and going upstairs to her bedroom. The court heard she waited until around 6.30am the next morning to wake her husband and tell him what had happened.

The angry husband immediately confronted Keith before throwing the ex-cop and his wife out of the property and the police were contacted later that day. Keith’s defence agent said his client was “extremely sorry for the pain he has caused” and could offer “no explanation” for his behaviour.

The court heard Keith is currently attending sessions with Alcoholics Anonymous and has abstained from drinking since he carried out the attack in 2022.

Keith pleaded guilty to a charge of sexually penetrating a woman with his fingers while she was asleep and was incapable of giving consent at an address in Edinburgh in August 13, 2022.