Northern Ireland rape survivor launches petition to keep attacker behind bars in Scotland
A rape survivor from Co Down is calling for authorities in Scotland to stop her perpetrator being released from prison.
Christine Jones has already waived her right to anonymity to protect other women and girls from William Dennis Fenton. The serial offender drug-raped Christine in 2000 - the first case ever in Northern Ireland. He then went on to carry out multiple sexual crimes and was most recently jailed in Scotland in 2013.
It led to Christine Jones launching a fresh petition to keep her rapist behind bars.
Already thousands of people are giving her their support. "Within just a couple of weeks we are over at over 5,000 signatures. The next target is to get to 7,500 signatures. It's good to know what he looks like. You don't want to be around this person he's a very dangerous man," Christine told UTV. Christine was 17 and had accepted a lift from Fenton to a St Patrick's Day party in 2000. It would be a fleeting decision with lasting consequences. "I was given a drink whenever I got into the car which we now know was laced with Rohypnol and then I never made it to the party. It was over 30 hours, I was raped and then just dumped by the side of the road," she said. William James Fenton was in his 40s when he was jailed for repeatedly raping Christine. It turned out she was not his first or only victim. "It was the first drug rape conviction of its kind in Northern Ireland and following that, other girls who he'd raped previously they were able to secure their convictions because of my conviction. So it also started off the journey for drug rape to be recognised here," she added. Fenton was released early, moved to Scotland and re-offended.
In 2018, when she heard he was eligible for parole Christine launched a petition to stop him being released and his sentence was extended "I just thought enough is enough, every time he rapes he gets out. So what I wanted to highlight to everyone was firstly his face, to recognise the dangers and also to make the parole board aware of the amount of people he's done this to, the amount of people whose lives were affected in a negative way." Now, five years later when she was informed of his potential release she's doing the same again. "We made the difficult decision as a family to go public. I have two choices here. I can read about myself in the paper which is what has happened in the past," she said.
"I can't change that. I can only make people aware of the danger he poses. This is something we can change," Christine said. "I couldn't live with myself if I didn't do everything to keep him inside to stop him from hurting another girl in the future.'' In a statement the Parole Board Scotland said it does not comment on individual cases but more generally said each case is considered on its own merits and the board takes into account all information including any victim representations before it in considering if a prisoner should be released.
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