Ex-SNP activist who 'wanted to beat feminists' jailed for sexually assaulting young adults

A former SNP activist who once tweeted how he wanted “beat the f**k” out of feminists has been jailed for sexually assaulting six young adults.

Cameron Downing, 24, preyed on his victims at locations across Scotland during a course of conduct which began when he was just 16-years-old. The High Court in Edinburgh heard how the abuse continued until February 2023.

Police learned about his activities and launched a probe. But the court heard that during the probe, officers discovered how Downing ‘repeatedly blackmailed’ one of the men he preyed on. He told his victim that if he didn’t engage in sexual activity with him, he’d make an allegation to the police about how he had been raped by the man.

The witness told the court that Downing said he’d also contact his friends, family and employer and make the false rape allegation to them. The man, who is now aged 22, gave evidence and said he felt “trapped” by Downing’s threat.

Downing, a former Drama student and an equalities convenor for the SNP’s London branch, spent his trial denying any wrongdoing.

Downing, who told the jury in their evidence that they identified as being non binary, said he hadn’t been threatening the male and was battling ‘complex’ mental health issues at the time of the abuse. But on Friday afternoon, after two days of deliberations, jurors found Downing, of Willowbrae, Edinburgh, guilty on charges of sexual and physical assault.

Defence advocate Michael Meehan KC said his client was a first offender and asked for Downing, whose pronouns are he and they, for bail ahead of a sentencing hearing next month.

But judge Alison Stirling remanded Downing in custody and told them: “Your status has changed. I will adjourn sentence to obtain a criminal justice social work report and you will be remanded in custody.”

It is not the first time that Downing has came to public attention. He’s a former drama student who has acted in Edinburgh fringe productions. He also worked as an NHS contact tracer during the pandemic.

In 2022, it emerged that Downing tweeted about how he wanted to “beat the f*** out of some terfs and transphobes”. He also tweeted “I f****** hate terfs and transphobes with such a passion.”

The tweets caused Harry Potter author JK Rowling to say: “Nicola Sturgeon’s Scotland: A place where an equalities officer feels free to declare in public how much he wants to beat up non-compliant women.”

The comments made by Downing came to light after he had been elected as equalities officer for the SNP’s London branch in October 2022. He later resigned from the post. A photograph also emerged of Downing posing with former first minister Nicola Sturgeon at an SNP conference in Aberdeen.

The remarks made by Downing prompted SNP MP Joanna Cherry, a gender-critical feminist who has herself been called a transphobe for her positions on sex and gender, to condemn the remarks. She said the remarks were “foul and violent” and accused Downing of being “misogynistic”.

During proceedings, jurors were played a video recording of the evidence given by the 22-year-old victim who was blackmailed by Downing. He told the court of how he and Downing had consensual sex but this stopped.

The man, who can’t be identified for legal reasons, told the court that Downing’s reaction to this decision “terrified” him. The court heard that Downing threatened the man by telling him that if he didn’t change his mind, he would tell the police of how the victim had “raped” him.

Downing said they had messages from the man that “proved” that he had sexually assaulted him. He added: “I felt trapped. I shouldn’t have let it get to that point. He said that he would ruin my life.

“He said he would use them to put me behind bars. He was going to tell my friends and family that I was a rapist and that I had done something wrong.”

The jury were also shown messages that Downing sent to the victim. One message read: “I don’t care if you’re not ready make yourself ready.”

Another message read of how Downing wanted his victim to continue having sex with them. it read: “You should want that with all of your f*****g being because the alternative is losing me from your life and most likely facing a court case for RAPING (NOTE - CORR capital letters) me.”

One woman who was targeted by Downing spoke of how Downing was a “bit of a loaded gun” who could get “personal” and “nasty” with people.

Speaking about the abuse she suffered, the witness added: "He would touch me inappropriately, like groping. It was mostly my breasts that he would touch, maybe some groping elsewhere. A lot of it I have filtered out."

The woman, now aged 24, said she attended a New Year party in January 2018 at a friend's home when she was still a teenager and Downing was among those present. She said Downing came up to her and told her a boy had said he thought she was "hot" until she discovered food.

She said: "It devastated me because I had quite a few body issues. I got quite upset about that comment. I drank far too much and I got quite drunk. I started to feel really sick."

She said Downing told her he would help her to an upstairs bathroom and she ended up being sick. She said: "I am sure Cameron said to me I needed to go for a shower. After that I don’t really remember anything. All I remember is how my friend found me and the bruises I had."

She said she remembered "pieces", including Downing telling her she had to take her clothes off and her dress being taken off. She later woke up in bed and Downing came into the room and she said "snarled in my face, everything was my fault and he had to leave now because of me".

The following day she noticed she was "covered in bruises" and said: "It was like I had been battered."

She said: "I had bruises that looked like they came from Cameron." She said there were marks of her arms that looked like little indents caused by fake nails.

She said she spoke to Downing via Snapchat but said he started "getting very personal about my mental health" and told her they were were gay and wouldn't want to "look at your saggy t**s anyway”.

She said she did not speak to Downing for a long time afterwards but later met them at an Edinburgh club where he came up to her and said they were “bi now” and asked to have sex with her.

Following conviction, Downing was placed in handcuffs and taken to the cells of the high court. He turned to family members who sat in the court’s public benches and said: “I love you.”

Downing will be sentenced at the High Court in Edinburgh on July 16 2024.

Don't miss the latest news from around Scotland and beyond - Sign up to our daily newsletter here.