An actor – who claimed he stood in as a body double for Brad Pitt – has been jailed for 16 years for a string of sex attacks, including rape for secretly not using a condom during sex.
The prosecution is the first in Scotland for “stealthing” – where a condom is removed or not used without a partner’s knowledge.
Luke Ford, 35, denied any wrongdoing but was last year found guilty of a spate of offences following a trial at the High Court in Glasgow.
He was convicted of 19 charges of abusing nine female partners, including raping six of them and the attempted rape of another.
Jurors heard how he terrorised his victims over a 12-year period between 2008 and 2020, subjecting them to physical, mental and sexual abuse.
Ford was said to be a jobbing actor and model who appeared in a pop video by Deacon Blue and claimed he was a stand-in for Brad Pitt on the 2013 film World War Z, part of which was shot in Glasgow.
His trial heard how he preyed on women on dating apps, first showering them with affection before financially exploiting, controlling and abusing them.
Image: Luke Ford. Pic: Facebook
‘I felt completely violated’
In the “stealthing” case, Ford was said to have met a woman via Tinder in 2017 and after a few dates they discussed having sex.
The woman messaged Ford stipulating that he use protection because she did not want to risk pregnancy, to which he reportedly replied: “Good idea.”
While in bed, the woman handed him a condom but he later admitted that he had not used it.
She told the court: “I was shocked and upset. I would not have had sex with him without a condom. I asked him to leave. I felt completely violated.”
When she confronted him the next day with the concern that she could be pregnant, he dismissed her as “paranoid”, saying that it was “no big deal” and to take the morning-after pill.
He reportedly texted: “Just get the pill and if you are pregnant get rid of it.”
Image: The High Court in Edinburgh. Pic: PA
Violent attacks and intimate videos
Ford was also convicted of a number of assaults, including strangling, smashing one partner’s head off a car window, and slapping another hard across the face.
He also took intimate videos and photographs of partners, often covertly, and threatened to show them to their employers and family if they did not do as he wished.
The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) said several victims described being isolated from their family and friends while under Ford’s abusive and controlling behaviour.
He was also convicted of possessing extreme pornographic images involving bestiality.
Ford, originally of Stirling, was sentenced by Lord Summers at the High Court in Edinburgh on Wednesday.
The judge had deliberated on whether to impose an Order for Lifelong Restriction (OLR), but instead handed the accused a 21-year extended sentence, with 16 years in jail and five years on licence once released back into the community.
Lord Summers said he was dissuaded from imposing an OLR due to a number of reasons, including Ford’s lack of previous convictions and a “willingness to accept the wrongfulness” of his conduct.
The judge said: “While this is not a decisive factor, I consider that it indicates that you are gaining some insight into the true nature of your conduct rather than blaming the victims.”
Ford was also said to have voluntarily undertaken a series of educational programmes in prison designed to provide insight into his offending behaviour.
Lord Summers said he had “reason to think” Ford “may be amenable to change”.
However, the judge noted evidence showed that there is a “likelihood” on release he will “seriously endanger the public and specifically women”.
Lord Summers said any risk posed will be “best managed” by the extended sentence.
Ford was also placed on the sex offenders’ register indefinitely and banned from contacting his victims.
‘Manipulative sexual predator’
Police Scotland’s Detective Inspector Steven Gray branded Ford a “manipulative sexual predator”.
Katrina Parkes, Scotland’s procurator fiscal for high court sexual offending, added: “Luke Ford is a serial offender who demonstrated no respect for the consent of his victims.
“He was prepared to use manipulation, force or threats to carry out his abuse. He showed disregard for the importance of consent between partners.
“I hope that the many victims in this troubling case find some relief in Ford being held accountable for his offending. I commend them for their courage and strength.”
Russell Brand has been charged with rape and two counts of sexual assault between 1999 and 2005.
The Metropolitan Police say the 50-year-old comedian, actor and author has also been charged with one count of oral rape and one count of indecent assault.
The charges relate to four women.
He is due to appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Friday 2 May.
Police have said Brand is accused of raping a woman in the Bournemouth area in 1999 and indecently assaulting a woman in the Westminster area of London in 2001.
He is also accused of orally raping and sexually assaulting a woman in Westminster in 2004.
The fourth charge alleges that a woman was sexually assaulted in Westminster between 2004 and 2005.
Police began investigating Brand, from Oxfordshire, in September 2023 after receiving a number of allegations.
The comedian has previously denied the accusations, and said all his sexual relationships were “absolutely always consensual”.
Met Police Detective Superintendent Andy Furphy, who is leading the investigation, said: “The women who have made reports continue to receive support from specially trained officers.
“The Met’s investigation remains open and detectives ask anyone who has been affected by this case, or anyone who has any information, to come forward and speak with police.”
The last blast furnaces left operating in Britain could see their fate sealed within days, after their Chinese owners took the decision to cut off the crucial supply of ingredients keeping them running.
Jingye, the owner of British Steel in Scunthorpe, has, according to union representatives, cancelled future orders for the iron ore, coal and other raw materials needed to keep the furnaces running.
The upshot is that they may have to close next month – even sooner than the earliest date suggested for its closure.
The fate of the blast furnaces – the last two domestic sources of virgin steel, made from iron ore rather than recycled – is likely to be determined in a matter of days, with the Department for Business and Trade now actively pondering nationalisation.
The upshot is that even as Britain contends with a trade war across the Atlantic, it is now working against the clock to secure the future of steelmaking at Scunthorpe.
The talks between the government and Jingye broke down last week after the Chinese company, which bought British Steel out of receivership in 2020, rejected a £500m offer of public money to replace the existing furnaces with electric arc furnaces.
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The sum is the same one it offered to Tata Steel, which has shut down the other remaining UK blast furnaces in Port Talbot and is planning to build electric furnaces – which have far lower carbon emissions.
Image: These steel workers could soon be out of work
However, the owners argue that the amount is too little to justify extra investment at Scunthorpe, and said last week they were now consulting on the date of shutting both the blast furnaces and the attached steelworks.
Since British Steel is the main provider of steel rails to Network Rail – as well as other construction steels available from only a few sites in the world – the closure would leave the UK more reliant on imports for critical infrastructure sites.
However, since the site belongs to its Chinese owners, a decision to nationalise the site would involve radical steps government officials are wary of taking.
They also fear leaving taxpayers exposed to a potentially loss-making business for the long run.
The dilemma has been heightened by the sharp turn in geopolitical sentiment following Donald Trump’s return to the White House.
The incipient trade war and threatened cut in American support to Europe have sparked fresh calls for countries to act urgently to secure their own supplies of critical materials, especially those used for defence and infrastructure.
Gareth Stace, head of UK Steel, the industry lobby group, said: “Talks seem to have broken down between government and British Steel.
“My advice to government is: please, Jonathan Reynolds, Business Secretary, get back round that negotiating table, thrash out a deal, and if a deal can’t be found in the next few days, then I fear for the very future of the sector, but also here for Scunthorpe steelworks.”
Prince Andrew’s efforts to make money from his Pitch@Palace project have been branded as a “crude attempt to enrich himself” at the expense of “unsuspecting tech founders”, as new documents may shed more light on what he and his team have been attempting to sell.
Today is the deadline for documents to be released relating to Prince Andrew‘s former senior adviser Dominic Hampshire and his interactions with the alleged Chinese spy Yang Tengbo.
In February, an immigration tribunal heard how the intelligence services had contacted Mr Hampshire about Mr Yang back in 2022. Mr Yang helped set up Pitch@Palace China, a branch of the duke’s scheme to help young entrepreneurs.
Image: The alleged Chinese spy, Yang Tengbo, has links with Prince Andrew
Image: Yang Tengbo. Pic: Pitch@Palace
Judges banned Mr Yang from the UK, saying his association with a senior royal had made Prince Andrew “vulnerable” and posed a threat to national security. Mr Yang challenged that decision at the Special Immigration Appeals Commission (SIAC).
Since that hearing, media organisations have applied for certain documents relating to the case and Mr Hampshire’s support for Mr Yang to be made public. SIAC agreed to release some information of public interest. It is hoped they may include more details on deals that he was trying to do on behalf of Prince Andrew.
So what do we know about potential deals for Pitch@Palace so far?
In February, Sky News confirmed that palace officials had a meeting last summer with tech funding company StartupBootcamp to discuss a potential tie-up between them and Prince Andrew relating to his Pitch@Palace project.
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The palace wasn’t involved in the fine details of a deal but wanted guarantees to make sure it wouldn’t impact the Royal Family in the future. Sky News understands from one source that the price being discussed for Pitch was around £750,000 – there are, however, reports that a deal may have stalled.
Photos we found on the Chinese Chamber of Commerce website show an event held in Asia between StartupBootcamp and Innovate Global, believed to be an offshoot of Pitch.
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Who is alleged Chinese spy, Yang Tengbo?
Documents, released in relation to the investigations into Mr Tengbo, have also shown how much the duke has always seen Pitch as a way of potentially making money. One document from 21 August 2021 clearly states “the duke needed money at the time, and saw the relationships with China through Pitch as one possible source of funding”.
But Prince Andrew’s apparent intention to use Pitch to make money has led to concerns about whether he is unfairly using the contacts and information he gained when he was a working royal.
Norman Baker, former MP and author of books on royal finances, believes it is “a crude attempt to enrich himself” and goes against what the tech entrepreneurs thought they were signing up for.
He told Sky News: “The data given by these business people was given on the basis it was an official operation and not something for Prince Andrew, and so in my view, Prince Andrew had no right legally or morally to take the data which has been collected, a huge amount of data, and sell it…
“And quite clearly if you’re going to sell it off to StartupBootcamp, that is not what people had in mind. The entrepreneurs who joined Pitch@Palace did not do so to enrich Prince Andrew,” he said.
Rich Wilson was one tech entrepreneur who was approached at the start of Pitch@Palace to sign up, but he stepped away when he spotted a clause in the contract saying they’d be entitled to 2% equity in any funding he secured.
He feels Prince Andrew is continuing to use those he made a show of supporting.
He said: “It makes me feel sick. I think it’s terrible – that he is continuing to exploit unsuspecting tech founders in this way. A lot of them, I’m quite grey and old in the tooth now, I saw it coming, but clearly most didn’t. And a lot of them were quite young.
“It’ll be their first venture and you’re learning on the trot, so to speak. So to take advantage of people in such a major way – that’s an awful, sickening thing to do.”
We approached StartupBootcamp who said they had no comment to make, and the Duke of York’s office did not respond.
With reports that a deal may have stalled, it could be a big setback for the duke – especially with questions still about how he’ll continue to pay for his home on the Windsor estate now that the King no longer gives him financial support.