Woman secretly records rapist's confession to show how 'manipulative' abusers can be

A woman who secretly recorded her rapist's confession said she released the footage because she wanted to show how 'manipulative' abusers can be.

Ellie Wilson, 25, was abused between December 2017 and February 2018 by Daniel McFarlane - a medical student at the University of Glasgow at the time.

To help send him down, Wilson secretly recorded McFarlane admitting to raping her by setting her phone up to record while in her handbag. Listen to it below:

In the recording that Wilson released on Twitter last week, 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."

Wilson then proceeds to ask him how he feels about what he's done, to which he replies: "I feel good knowing I am not in prison."

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

But despite the audio being played in court, as well as written confessions, the verdict was not unanimous.

Wilson has waived her anonymity since the conviction to campaign on behalf of victims.

BBC Scotland/ @ellieokwilson/ Twitter

Speaking to BBC Scotland's The Nine, Wilson said she released the clip as she had many people asking her what type of evidence is needed to secure a rape conviction.

She said that despite the audio clip and text messages that pointed to McFarlane being guilty, she was still worried it was not enough to send him down.

She said: "The verdict was not unanimous.

"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."

Wilson also told the BBC that McFarlane was portrayed as a successful and athletic student who would never carry out such a dreadful 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."

@ellieokwilson/ Twitter

Wilson said that she posted the audio on Twitter to show that abusers can have a 'duplicitous' nature.

She added: "I wanted to show that those people could be abusers too and they can act differently behind closed doors."

While she is using her experience from the terrible ordeal in a positive way, Wilson says what happened to her 'will be with me forever'.

She 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."

If you have been affected by any of the issues in this article and wish to speak to someone in confidence, contact the Rape Crisis England and Wales helpline on 0808 802 9999 between 12pm–2.30pm and 7pm– 9.30pm every day. Alternatively, you can contact Victim Support free on 08 08 16 89 111 available 24/7, every day of the year, including Christmas