Adele Rennie, a former nurse who has previously posed as a man to target women online, has been convicted of similar offenses for a third time. Rennie, 33, pleaded guilty at Kilmarnock Sheriff Court to causing a woman fear and alarm while pretending to be a male pharmacist. In 2017, Rennie was jailed for 22 months after posing as a man online to trick women into sending her naked pictures. Just months after her release in 2019, Rennie was sentenced to three years for pretending to be a wealthy lawyer using the Tinder dating site. She will be sentenced in September and will remain in prison until then.
On Tuesday, the court heard how the victim matched with a person claiming to be a male pharmacist on Tinder and they exchanged mobile numbers. Rennie then contacted the victim through text messages, emails and calls using a voice-changing application that made her sound like a man. She sent the woman pictures of her home and workplace, which alarmed the victim and made her feel like she was being followed. Rennie admitted sending her gifts, obtaining her personal information and carrying out internet searches for her. She also admitted to sending the same woman a picture of male genitalia. Sheriff Nicola Patrick described Rennie’s pattern of behavior as “alarming”. Her solicitor Neil McPherson asked the court to allow time for the preparation of background reports, including a psychological assessment.
Former Miss Scotland finalist Abbie Draper started receiving messages from a person claiming to be called David Graham in 2014. He said he was the physiotherapist for her grandad who was being treated in Crosshouse Hospital after having a stroke. She soon discovered it was, in fact, Adele Rennie – a nurse who was looking after her grandad. Ms. Draper said Rennie had “taken away” the last memories she had of her grandad. Ahead of the most recent case, she received a message from someone who had seen a similar story in a Facebook group. Ms. Draper said she was alerted to one particular post which “was almost identical to stories Adele had used before” and she contacted the police.
Rennie first pled guilty to pretending to be a man to lure women into romantic relationships in 2017. At the time she worked as a nurse at Crosshouse Hospital in Kilmarnock, East Ayrshire, and targeted women through dating sites and social media. The court heard how she lured some women into sending intimate pictures which she used to threaten them if they cut contact. She was put on the sex offenders register for 10 years. Months after she left prison for her first conviction, Rennie was jailed for a similar offense in 2019. During this case, the court heard how she had used a voice-changing app to maintain the ruse.
Det Insp Stephen McGrath, of Police Scotland, said: “We hope this case sends out a clear message that such crimes will not be tolerated, and we would encourage anyone with concerns about behavior online to report them.” Ms. Draper said she offered support to other victims who contacted her after she spoke out about her experience. “It just goes to show you that the police and the court system are taking it seriously now, where you are getting a jail sentence, whether you’re a woman or a man.
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