Sean Hogg: Dalkeith Country Park rapist who walked free from court said to be living under a new name

‘This shows how devious and manipulative this person is’

Sean Hogg, who walked free from court after raping a 13-year-old girl in Dalkeith Country Park, has changed his name, reports claim.

There was outrage when Hogg, 21, was given a community payback order and told to carry out 270 hours of unpaid work for the offence which he committed when he was 17. Now Hogg is said to be living under the name Sean Kay, which critics say could help him avoid being linked to the case and go undetected in future relationships.

Sentencing Hogg on April 3, trial judge Lord Lake said he did not consider prison appropriate, though he told him that if he had been aged 25 or over he would have been jailed for between four and five years. Guidelines say custodial sentences should only be imposed on those under 25 if no other punishment is appropriate. But the Crown has announced it will appeal against the “unduly lenient” sentence.

Sean Hogg raped his 13-year-old victim in Dalkeith Country Park when he was 17

The Sunday Mail said that by October 2018, a few months after the offence, Hogg’s name had been changed to Sean Kay. The paper said records for the his first child, born that month, list the father’s name as Sean Kay and state he was formerly known as Hogg. The birth certificates for his other two children, born in 2021 and 2023, give the same details the paper added. It said it had also identified Hogg as living under the name Kay at an address in Hamilton, though he was claimed no longer to be there, and his social media had also been changed to Kay – which is the surname of his father Robert.

The Sunday Mail quoted the grandmother of the girl Hogg raped saying: “This shows how devious and manipulative this person is. Did he think his name would not be connected to him or was he trying to convince people for some reason it’s not him?”

After Hogg was given a community payback order, Rape Crisis Scotland said the sentence was “worryingly lenient”. And Harry Potter author JK Rowling claimed: "Young Scottish men are effectively being told 'first time's free'." Aamer Anwar, solicitor for the rape victim, has welcomed the Crown’s decision to appeal against the sentence. He said the girl felt the justice system had failed her. "My client still does not understand why Hogg was allowed to get on with his life when he had ruined her, she wonders how many girls will think there is no point in reporting rape after seeing a rapist walk free.”