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Offender Information

Age: 46

Town: Glasgow

Convicted: 11/04/2022

Charity worker raped women he held hostage in his flat.

A charity worker is facing jail for raping two women in a Glasgow flat.

John Wood, who worked with some of the most vulnerable people in the country, was convicted of rape at Glasgow High Court. Now one of his victims has spoken out about her ordeal.

The 44-year-old victim revealed that Wood held her hostage and raped her after she broke up with him while he was on holiday. She said, "I caught him openly flirting with a girl he'd been with in the past via a Facebook chat so I decided to end the relationship."

"The night he returned from holiday was the first time he raped me," she said. "I was in complete shock and disbelief at what happened, and Wood was cold and dismissive towards me."

"The next time he raped me was a few days later when I returned to the flat for some things. He held me captive in the bedroom of his flat for what felt like forever, but was actually maybe 45 minutes to an hour. I tried to fight him off but he prevented me from escaping. I was absolutely broken and traumatized."

Wood had previously worked for the Scottish Association for Mental Health (SAMH) and homelessness charities Simon Community Scotland and Turning Point Scotland.

The woman later discovered that Wood had also raped a 34-year-old woman, who was also his girlfriend at the time. This second victim was raped by Wood early in their relationship, and then again twice in England. The first victim said, "He also raped her at some point during this initial period of meeting. She was manipulated and coerced in the relationship, and after he initially raped her in Glasgow, he raped her a further two times in England."

"One day, she looked on his phone and laptop and found umpteen messages from men and women, mostly men, with details of times they had met in hotels and in her home for sex," the first victim said. "When she confronted him about this, the relationship ended. It was during this time he raped her for the last time."

At the High Court last month, Wood was convicted of raping his first victim and attempting to rape her at a flat in Dowanhill. He was also convicted of raping his second victim at the same flat a month later. He will be sentenced today.

Kenneth Crawford, director of finance and resources at Turning Point Scotland, said Wood "was employed by us for a short time before the incidents took place. At the time of employment, we can verify that all mandatory checks were carried out."

Billy Watson, chief executive at SAMH, said Wood was "employed by SAMH for two months" until May 15, 2015, but "did not complete his probation and was dismissed after being found to have breached confidentiality."

Simon Community Scotland was approached for comment.