Rape survivor secretly recorded her abuser's confession

A woman who released audio of her rapist's confession said she wanted to show how "manipulative" abusers can be.

Ellie Wilson, 25, secretly captured Daniel McFarlane admitting to his crimes by setting her phone to record in her handbag.

McFarlane was found guilty of two rape charges and sentenced to five years in prison in July last year.

Ms Wilson said that despite audio and written confessions being used in court, the verdict was not unanimous.

The attacks took place between December 2017 and February 2018 when McFarlane was a medical student at the University of Glasgow.

Since the conviction Ms Wilson, who waived her anonymity, has campaigned on behalf of victims.

Earlier this week Ms Wilson, who was a politics student and champion athlete at the university at the time, released audio on Twitter of a conversation with McFarlane covertly captured the year after the attacks.

In the recording she asks him: "Do you not get how awful it makes me feel when you say 'I haven't raped you' when you have?"

McFarlane replies: "Ellie, we have already established that I have. The people that I need to believe me, believe me. I will tell them the truth one day, but not today."

When asked how he feels about what he has done, he says: "I feel good knowing I am not in prison."

The tweet has been viewed by more than 200,000 people.

Ms Wilson told BBC Scotland's The Nine she had released the clip because many people wondered what evidence she had to secure a rape conviction.

She said the reaction had been "overwhelmingly positive" although a small minority had been very unkind.

And even with the recording of the confession being posted online some people were still saying 'he didn't do it', Ms Wilson said.

In addition to the audio confession, Ms Wilson had text messages that pointed to McFarlane's guilt yet she said she was still worried that it would not be enough to secure a conviction.

"The verdict was not unanimous," she said.

"You can literally have a written confession, an audio confession and not everyone on the jury is going to believe you. I think that says a lot about society."

Ms Wilson has previously said the experience she had in court was appalling.

She said she was subjected to personal attacks by the defence advocate and felt blamed for being assaulted.

Ms Wilson said she felt "humiliated, degraded and bullied" during cross-examination.

She told the BBC she had recently read a transcript of the court case and "felt sick" at some of the things that were said to her.

Ms Wilson said McFarlane was portrayed as a successful student and athlete who had a bright future and would never carry out such a crime.

She said: "He knew he could spin this narrative that did not have him as a rapist.

"I wanted to show people reality of that, especially the people that support him."

She said she posted the audio on Twitter because she wanted to show the "duplicitous" nature of abusers.

"I wanted to show that those people could be abusers too and they can act differently behind closed doors," she said.

When Ms Wilson reported the rape to police in 2020, McFarlane was suspended from Glasgow University where they were both students.

She later found out that he had been able to enrol at Edinburgh University, despite being under police investigation.

Ms Wilson said: "That to me was really shocking because I was thinking about the female student population of Edinburgh. They could potentially become victims too."

She said she could not understand how universities could put the rights of a suspected rapist above those of their student population.

"I'm worried that universities are not doing enough to keep people safe," she said.

Ms Wilson said: "I will never be able to change what happened to me, that will be with me forever. I need to have an outlet for my pain.

"Thinking that I might be able to change society in a positive way and make it a little bit easier for other people, that's what motivates me, that's what gets me up in the morning when I feel like I cannot do it anymore."

Edinburgh University issued a statement saying that the safety of students is their top priority and they act swiftly when misconduct of a student has been proven.

It said: "Our admissions process does not require applicants to disclose any criminal convictions or ongoing investigations at the point of application."

However, it added: "The strength of feeling around these issues is something the university fully understands.

"We will continue to listen to views on what changes can be made to refine our processes, and help make sure that all students feel safe and protected."

A spokesperson for Universities Scotland said they were working with Ellie and the Scottish government to explore what further action might be taken in the interests of student safety and wellbeing

It said a change to data protection laws, which took effect just before the pandemic, created an opportunity to do things better.

If you have been affected by any of the issues in this story, you can visit the BBC's Action Line.