I Was Weeks from Marrying a Violent Serial Rapist - My Loved Ones Saved My Life
By Mary McCool, BBC Scotland
This article contains details, including depictions of violence, which some readers may find distressing.
Without the interventions of her family and friends, Amy says she would have married the man who had physically and psychologically abused her for much of their relationship. Had the wedding gone ahead, she fears he would have eventually killed her.
Christopher Malcolm, a serial rapist who was recently jailed for his crimes, inflicted life-changing injuries on his former fiancée—on one occasion she said he left her face "black and blue" just before she visited her terminally ill father for Father's Day.
Amy, not her real name, told the BBC that staying in the relationship was often a means to calm the violence and survive. So long as Malcolm was free, she said she did not feel safe enough to report him to police. Her loved ones, meanwhile, grew increasingly worried. On several occasions they reported their concerns for Amy's welfare to Police Scotland's disclosure scheme for domestic abuse (known as Clare's Law in England and Wales), supplying evidence including text messages and photos of her injuries. This ultimately helped officers build a strong enough case to arrest Malcolm, who was taken into custody in September 2024. Shortly afterwards, Amy gave a full report of the rapes, assaults, and abuse she had been subjected to.
She had been due to marry Malcolm four weeks later.
Amy met Malcolm on the dating app Tinder around the end of August 2023. They went for a coffee and a walk (he didn't drink) and she remembers him being "lovely and fun" – but the relationship progressed much more quickly than she expected. Within the first week she had met his parents, within months they were living together, and they were engaged by Christmas.
"When we were happy it was like he was like my best friend," she said. "Towards the end, he could finish my sentences. He knew what I was thinking—it was nice, but scary at the same time."
Malcolm quickly began exerting control over Amy's life. She said he insisted she delete social media so their relationship remained "just between us". She was not allowed to take phone calls from her family in their home because he "didn't like their accents" – he would hide her phone or physically take it from her.
On multiple occasions he turned up at her work and demanded that she leave early, threatening to cause a scene. She said she knew if she didn't comply she would have a "horrific night" when she got home.
"It upset me a lot," said Amy. "That was the industry I'd worked so hard to get into and I absolutely loved my job. I felt like I was losing a part of myself by losing that side of work."