A life sentence for us, it should be for him, says trafficking victim

Link: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c4gvkd3xnj0o
Credit: Kelly Bonner and Barry O'Connor, BBC News NI
Archive: https://archive.ph/Vtt1c



Rebecca Whyte said: "It's a life sentence for us regardless and personally I think it should be for him."

One victim of a man convicted of human trafficking has said his sentence is not long enough despite it being increased by two years.

Oliver James MacCormack, 72, was given a seven-year sentence in April, with half to be spent in jail and half on licence. He had already spent almost three years in jail and had been set for release on licence by November.

Rebecca Whyte said: "It's a life sentence for us regardless and personally I think it should be for him."

On Tuesday, senior judges held that the original term handed to MacCormack was "unduly lenient".

MacCormack will now serve nine years after being convicted on 40 counts over dates spanning seven years from 2015 to 2022.

The charges included multiple counts of human trafficking, supplying Class A drugs, controlling prostitution for gain, intimidation and perverting the course of justice.

'Drugs helped me cope'​

Rebecca Whyte said she met MacCormack while in a relationship with a "drug dealer".

She said that it was through him and another girl that she was introduced to the now 72-year-old.

"I will never forget the first time getting in his car, I can smell it sitting here. He made it very clear what he liked and didn't like and that's how he wormed himself in."

Within weeks Ms Whyte, who had "never touched drugs" before, was "absolutely hooked on heroin" and "lost everything".

Ms Whyte said MacCormack used this as a tool to control her.

She said she felt like she did not fit in anywhere, but when she was with MacCormack sexually, he made her feel that using the "one thing" she had was a "show of love but in the wrong ways".

"The drugs helped me cope, you had to completely zone out," she said.

She described MacCormack as "your typical next door neighbour".

"If you didn't have sex with him and the other men – you weren't getting your hit and it wasn't a hit to get off your head, it's to function.

"If we didn't do what he wanted our life wasn't worth living," Ms Whyte added.

She said that he "wormed his way around my family" and he found out "where you lived".

"He is calculative, manipulative, he is a very smart man. He knows exactly what he is doing," she said.

'He is a predator'​

Ms Whyte said "age shouldn't come into this" when talking about his sentence.

"He is a predator, a paedophile as well. He instilled so much fear in us. I haven't just been left with mental scars, I have physical scars.

"I have problems as a woman now. That's a hard pill to swallow," she added.

Ms Whyte said MacCormack took everything from her and left her feeling lost.

"It's a life sentence for us regardless and personally I think it should be for him. But unfortunately our justice system doesn't work like that."



MacCormack was originally given a seven-year sentence in April

In court, Lady Chief Justice Dame Siobhan Keegan said: "He portrayed himself as some sort of saviour, rather than a calculated abuser of vulnerable young women."

There were nine victims across the Greater Belfast area, some were 17 years-old when the offences were committed.

The court heard how MacCormack, from the Lisburn area, targeted victims by supplying them with illegal drugs, making them dependent on him.

The court also heard MacCormack "ingratiated" himself into the victim's lives and groomed them into sex work and prostitution.

He was one of four men, who all preyed on vulnerable women who were addicted to drugs.

Kenneth David Harvey, aged 74; Derek Brown, aged 71; and 77-year-old Robert Albert Rogers - were previously sentenced, with Harvey and Brown jailed.

'Most serious case in NI to date'​

The Public Prosecution Service (PPS) challenged MacCormack's original sentence, claiming it failed to fully reflect the high culpability, aggravating features and need for deterrence.

Charles MacCreanor KC, barrister for the PPS, argued that MacCormack manipulated and exploited young women.

He told the court: "Ultimately he used them like commodities to be sold in order to be of financial benefit.

"It was the most serious case seen in Northern Ireland to date."
Three appeal judges, who backed the PPS case, formally declared the sentence was "unduly lenient".

"This was a case involving a suite of offending against vulnerable women which requires appropriate punishment to deter this type of behaviour in our community and to soundly rebut the attitude of the defendant. Such attitudes have no place in our society," the Lady Chief Justice stated.

She confirmed the sentence will be nine years, "split equally between custody and licence".

 

[Mound Dweller]

It doesn't matter. I don't mind that an old drug trafficking pimp is behind bars, what he was doing was illigal and evil. I just don't like being manipulated.

I don't buy the "these poor women were groomed" , she was taking heroin after a couple of weeks ( according to her own testimony, i think she was already hooked up on drugs before meeting him) she was already involved in selling sex and getting pimped out ( the drug dealer boyfriend) . They were called " vulnerable women" by the court because they were already drug addicted prostitutes. She's trying to put all the responsibility for her whoring and drug addiction on this man when she was already involved in that life and that's how she met him.

The "manipulation" is all in your head bro, you're taking offense to something entirely constructed in your own mind, it's rather self hating actually.

The responsibility for the raping does indeed lay entirely on the one doing the raping, what you're umming and ahhhing about is inconsequential really, she's a slag, so what. She was raped, do you really see the facts before you and can honestly say that wat happen to her wasn't rape, or are you really that hung up on wahmen being loose?

 

[NoIdeaWhatImDoing]

The "manipulation" is all in your head bro, you're taking offense to something entirely constructed in your own mind, it's rather self hating actually.

The responsibility for the raping does indeed lay entirely on the one doing the raping, what you're umming and ahhhing about is inconsequential really, she's a slag, so what. She was raped, do you really see the facts before you and can honestly say that wat happen to her wasn't rape, or are you really that hung up on wahmen being loose?

what raping? most of the article is about her getting hooked up on drugs and whoring, there's an interview she did with the bbc she mostly talks about that and not rapes, that's not the language she uses. She herself says she was having sex because she wanted heroin.

 

[Mound Dweller]

what raping?

Come ooooooon

This isn't a little old he-said she-said m8 it's straight up grooming gang stuff, minus the halal this time though.

most of the article is about her getting hooked up on drugs and whoring, there's an interview she mostly talks about that and not the raping. She herself say she was having sex because she wanted heroin.

That's because it's a follow-up to the article about the actual convictions, see here https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cjewwygqg0lo/https://archive.is/nwGdK

Spoiler: Woman forced into prostitution says she was scared for her life

A woman who was trafficked, sexually assaulted and forced into prostitution has said the abuse she suffered was so traumatic it has ruined her life.

Courtney Smith was abused by 71-year-old Oliver James MacCormack and three other men, who all preyed on vulnerable women who were addicted to drugs.

MacCormack, the last of the four to be convicted, was given a seven-year sentence on Thursday, with half to be spent in jail and half on licence. He has already spent almost three years in jail.

The defendant, whose address was given as HMP Maghaberry, was convicted on 40 counts with dates spanning seven years from 2015 to 2022.
The charges included multiple counts of human trafficking, supplying Class A drugs and controlling prostitution for gain.

The three other men - Kenneth David Harvey, aged 74; Derek Brown, aged 71; and 77-year-old Robert Albert Rogers - were previously sentenced, with Harvey and Brown jailed.

Courtney Smith has waived her right to anonymity to tell BBC News NI about the abuse she endured.

She first met MacCormack when she was 17.

At the time, she was going through withdrawal from heroin.

She said she was desperate and vulnerable.

"Oliver would collect me at 9pm on Bankmore Street or my hostel," she told BBC News NI.

"He would usually give me heroin and then drive me to have sex with other men. He would also have sex with me.

"I was scared for my life. I told him every single time that I didn't want to do this.

"I actually screamed 'please help me', but no one did."
Ms Smith said MacCormack didn't care about the physical or mental state his victims were in.

"I wasn't even awake half the time," she said.

"When I was awake I was in that much pain that I felt like my body wasn't my own. I just had to blank it out and pretend that I was somewhere else.

"I pretended I was in another place, where I was happy - that's how I got through it."

Ms Smith said the trauma she has been through will "haunt her for the rest of her life".

"What that man did to me, I can't put into words," she added.

"I get flashbacks, I can't sleep at night, I feel like I am right back there. A certain smell can bring me back or a taste of a food just brings me back there. I feel like I am that wee girl again in his car and this is happening to me again."

Courtney Smith was one of nine women that MacCormack abused.

'Oliver got me hooked on heroin'​

Another one of MacCormack's victims, who wants to remain anonymous, said: "Before meeting MacCormack, I'd only tried heroin a couple of times.

"Oliver got me hooked on heroin and orchestrated it that I became completely dependent on him to get my fix.

"One day I went from being employed in a company, aged in my early 20s, to overnight becoming an advertised escort, a heroin addict waking up sick every day; and stealing from my family to buy heroin from him.

"If I refused to have sex with one of the sex-buyers he had set me up with, he would not sell me any heroin and would block my phone number, leaving me sick for days.

"Sex with paying customers just became so normal. I would wake up every day merely existing and not living."

During police interviews MacCormack said: "I did help some girls who I saw on the streets in Belfast city centre who were drug addicts and homeless and whom I felt sorry for. I helped them by giving them money. I bought some clothes from Primark on occasion and gave them to some of the girls sometimes.

"I would give them a fiver or a tenner... I wouldn't want anybody's children to be in that position."

But police said MacCormack had committed a series of despicable offences against vulnerable young women.

Speaking outside the court following sentencing, Det Insp Rachel Miskelly said it was a case of horrific exploitation being carried out "by local men and on our doorsteps".

"They lined their pockets at the expense of young women whilst using them for their own sexual gratification. These girls have been used, controlled and treated appallingly," she said.

Det Insp Miskelly said she wanted to acknowledge the "tremendous courage" the victims had shown.

"These young women have been inspirational and I truly hope that others who are suffering are encouraged to come forward," the detective said.

"I promise you that we are here to listen to you and help you and bring those who would seek to use and abuse you to justice."
Public Prosecution Service (PPS) senior public prosecutor Kirsten McKevitt said the testimony of the victims were central to the case.

"As this case shows, for most people, selling sexual services is not truly a free choice," she said.

"Even when they escape their situation, many are left traumatised.

"Anyone paying for sexual services should know that they are contributing to the exploitation of another human being and, in many cases, the profits of human traffickers."

Who are the other three men convicted?​

Kenneth Harvey, Derek Brown and Robert Rodgers were also convicted
Kenneth David Harvey, 74, was handed a two-year sentence in December 2024 for trafficking a woman and paying her for sexual services. Harvey, from Old Road in Lisburn, was told his sentence will be divided equally between prison and licence.

Despite his initial denials, Harvey pleaded guilty to a charge of human trafficking on dates between January 1 and June 30, 2020.

Derek Brown, 61, originally from Lisburn but now with an address listed as HMO Maghaberry was sentenced for human trafficking, controlling prostitution for gain, sexual assault, paying for sexual services and drugs related offences.

He exploited four "extremely vulnerable" young women and was given a six-year sentence in March 2025.

He will serve three years in jail and three on licence.

Robert Albert Rodgers, aged 77 and from Antrim Road in Belfast, admitted one charge of brothel keeping on dates between February 9, 2009 and June 8, 2022.

He also admitted three counts of controlling prostitution for gain spanning a period from February 3, 2015 to September 30, 2020.

He was subject of a two-year Probation Order which was imposed as an alternative to immediate custody.
Det Insp Miskelly said the four defendants were not part of an organised crime group, but "had a despicable commonality".

"They formed part of a network of older local men, who actively targeted young, vulnerable, local women for the purpose of sexual exploitation," she said.

She added that Robert Rodgers facilitated meetings between the women and sex buyers at a brothel, which he ran from his home in north Belfast.

You'll notice the wording is very bent in terms of what it wants to make you feel, that's because a gang of criminals sexually exploiting vulnerable wahmen underage girls tends to be an emotive topic, even when there's not any browns involved.
It's what's called a "human interest" story, you know the whole emotional/community/muh feels impact of things and all that.
You should rethink how you view it perhaps.

 

[Criticallacitirc]

what raping? most of the article is about her getting hooked up on drugs and whoring, there's an interview she did with the bbc she mostly talks about that and not rapes, that's not the language she uses. She herself says she was having sex because she wanted heroin.

Women get to retcon their histories. If later in life you regret a person you had sex with , you can reclassify it as rape or assault.

 

[NoIdeaWhatImDoing]

You should rethink how you view it perhaps.

the fuck is with you? it triggers you so much that I don't believe the part lf the story when she says she wasn't doing drugs before when she was literally dating a drug dealer? i don't have to believe everything a woman says. And you are the one who is putting rapes as the center of the story, it's not the main thing for her. She doesn't even mention it in the bbc interview. Again I'm glad these dudes are in jail. We all just read the article and it made 0 sense, people are going to point that out.

 

[Mound Dweller]

the fuck is with you? it triggers you so much that I don't believe the part lf the story when she says she wasn't doing drugs before when she was literally dating a drug dealer? i don't have to believe everything a woman says. And you are the one who is putting rapes as the center of the story, it's not the main thing for her. She doesn't even mention it in the bbc interview.

It's a story about rape and you're here downplaying it and running defence for the rapists, it's the exact sort of deficient thinking that enables disasters like the paki grooming scandal, but you don't even see it which is the true tragedy; what is with you?

 

[NoIdeaWhatImDoing]

It's a story about rape and you're here downplaying it and running defence for the rapists, it's the exact sort of deficient thinking that enables disasters like the paki grooming scandal, but you don't even see it which is the true tragedy; what is with you?

you know that people can be victimized in several ways? are you ones of those feminists that is obsessed with rape?

 

[Mound Dweller]

you know that people can be victimized in several ways?

Of course, though I'd argue that the raping for which the rapist (who raped) was convicted of is rather the main crux of it, wouldn't you agree?
Tbh I'm more bothered by the organized crime aspect of it, the fact this shit still runs smoothly isn't a good sign.

are you ones of those feminists that is obsessed with rape?

There you go projecting again

 

[Rick The Stick]

Mound Dweller must be a former smack whore

 

[The handsome tard]

Why is it so common that stories like this fail to elicit any sympathy for the "victims"? It tries so hard to make the women seem like victims, but I am just not seeing it.

I have two possible reasons

1- These articles are written like shit. Nuff said.
2- After getting exposed to clown world feminist nonsense, our brains are just adapting to the insanity and always react to a female's claims of being a victim with a certain level of doubt and suspicion. And who can blame us after years of exposure to false claims ? Its a problem feminists caused to themselves (like...practically everything they do).

So you cant be blamed for feeling this way even if its all legit.

 

[NoIdeaWhatImDoing]

From Mound Dweller article:

"Before meeting MacCormack, I'd only tried heroin a couple of times.

"Oliver got me hooked on heroin and orchestrated it that I became completely dependent on him to get my fix.


"One day I went from being employed in a company, aged in my early 20s, to overnight becoming an advertised escort, a heroin addict waking up sick every day; and stealing from my family to buy heroin from him.

"If I refused to have sex with one of the sex-buyers he had set me up with, he would not sell me any heroin and would block my phone number, leaving me sick for days.

>yeah i just did heroin a couple of times before
>if i didn't prostitute myself i wouldn't get heroin.

This is grooming or something, this woman has 0 responsibility for what happened to her, referring to her as a druggy slut is being a rape apologist

 

[Mound Dweller]

So you cant be blamed for feeling this way even if its all legit.

I thought muh feelz was a wahmen exclusive flaw?

referring to her as a druggy slut is being a rape apologist

Yes but unironically, it's called victim blaming, and while the concept gets rather abused by all the you-know-whos it's still a thing even if it doesn't conform to your prejudices.

 

[The handsome tard]

I thought muh feelz was a wahmen exclusive flaw?

Go back to reddit, nigger.

 

[NoIdeaWhatImDoing]

I thought muh feelz was a wahmen exclusive flaw?

Yes but unironically, it's called victim blaming, and while the concept gets rather abused by all the you-know-whos it's still a thing even if it doesn't conform to your prejudices.

yeah she was just an innocent little flower who had done heroin a couple of times before, this old fart just forced her to inject more using his pensioner mind powers. You now when your 72 year old neighbor offers you heroin you can't say no, that's rude.

 

[PovertySprocket]

Nobody forces the heroin needle into a druggies arm but themselves. But the people who perpetuate the cycle (aka. leftists & traffickers) are even more culpable. TOTAL ENABLER DEATH!!! souldn't be a controversial viewpoint. Hang the drug dealers, lock the supporters of safe-injection sites into the facilities and set the place ablaze. The century of humiliation will stop!!!

 

[The Ugly One]

We both said the guy is a piece of shit, but you seem to ignore that, because it gets in the way of what you want to say. You are going to bat for this whore a lot, is it your mum?

> be western society
> have aggressive laws against rape
> literally lock men away for years for rape
> zero allowance for "what was she wearing?" jurisprudence or "she was unaccompanied by a man" defenses, which are so common in Africa and the Middle East
> have the lowest standard of evidence of any crime so women are protected
> anti-rape laws so strong that women literally almost never get raped unless they deliberately seek out and put themselves in extremely unsafe situations with awful men

"Why doesn't our society say rape is wrong?"

 

[The Noise]

> be western society
> have aggressive laws against rape
> literally lock men away for years for rape
> zero allowance for "what was she wearing?" jurisprudence or "she was unaccompanied by a man" defenses, which are so common in Africa and the Middle East
> have the lowest standard of evidence of any crime so women are protected
> anti-rape laws so strong that women literally almost never get raped unless they deliberately seek out and put themselves in extremely unsafe situations with awful men

"Why doesn't our society say rape is wrong?"

"Women don't get raped and if they do it's because they deserve it due to what they were wearing. We should be more like Africa and the Middle East that allow you to rape a woman if she dresses a certain way."

Dude.

 

[Chicken Neck Nelly]

"Women don't get raped and if they do it's because they deserve it due to what they were wearing. We should be more like Africa and the Middle East that allow you to rape a woman if she dresses a certain way."

Dude.

Yeah telling women not to walk alone drunk at night next to downtown bar scenes with their pussies and tits barely concealed to avoid being raped or assaulted (this advice is extreme misogyny according to feminists and leftists in general) is exactly the same as Arabs and niggers codifying rape into law you dingus. Besides that, the point he was making is that our society takes rape really seriously but feminists/leftists are constantly reeing that we are a "rape culture" and women are just being raped with impunity every second of every day.

 

[The Noise]

Yeah telling women not to walk alone drunk at night next to downtown bar scenes with their pussies and tits barely concealed to avoid being raped or assaulted (this advice is extreme misogyny according to feminists and leftists in general)

The scenario you've imagined in your head does not correlate with reality. Even if it did, a woman being dressed slutty does not excuse rape. I can't believe I have to explain this to what I presume is a grown adult. Stop watching porn.

 

[Chicken Neck Nelly]

The scenario you've imagined in your head does not correlate with reality. Even if it did, a woman being dressed slutty does not excuse rape. I can't believe I have to explain this to what I presume is a grown adult. Stop watching porn.

Yeah I guess all those "Take Back The Night" and "SlutWalking" rallies I saw in person at university where deranged feminists were rubbing menstrual blood on their faces like war paint and screaming about being told not to wear slutty clothes and walk blackout drunk by themselves at night simply to protect themselves from being raped was totally in my head. They were telling the men that said this to them that they were "perpetuating rape culture and patriarchy" for daring to tell young women to be cautious and trying to stop them from being raped without any sense of irony.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/may/06/slutwalking-policeman-talk-clothing

This exact scenario also didn't happen dozens of times throughout the 2010s and wasn't parroted en masse by every leftist in the western world. Completely a figment of everyone with a functioning brain and set of eyes' imagination.

Stop projecting and take your own advice, all that femboi bussy porn is warping your mind.