'Puppy Master' Sentenced for Horrific Rape and Abuse of Autistic Victims

A Scottish man who described himself as one of Britain’s biggest “puppy masters” has been sentenced to 11 years in jail for the rape and abuse of two people who came to live with him as his personal “house pets.”

Following a six-day trial, a jury at the High Court in Stirling took 90 minutes to convict Scott Lannister, 35, of three charges of rape and two of domestic abuse of two autistic victims from 2019 to 2020. In addition to 11 years in prison, presiding Judge Lord Scott added nine years under supervision.

“You maintain your position from trial that what happened was with consent ­ the jury rejected that,” Scott said at Lannister’s sentencing on Wednesday. “It is necessary to impose this sentence to deter you and others from behaving this way as well as protect the public from you.”

Lannister lured his two victims with the promise of a carefree existence living as his personal puppy pet, according to reports in the Daily Record. After the victims completed an online “pack registration” form he provided them with a ticket for travel to his home. Upon meeting his victims, Lannister would immediately fit the person with a dog collar.

“I almost always put the collar on in the train station or in the airport or wherever I meet the pup for the first time,” Lannister said when questioned about the array of dog collars and tags found by police in his home. “A tag is akin to a wedding ring or engagement ring in a relationship of a normal description.”

He denied he had raped or abused the two victims, instead saying it was a consensual relationship. The victims said they initially consented to the puppy/master relationship dynamics, and willingly wore a neoprene dog mask and slept on a dog bed in a cupboard to further the experience. They would also be taken for walks on a leash and wear a clip-on furry tail.

“I met him on an app called Telegram,” said one victim, a woman. “He just offered and I had nothing better to do.”

Another victim, a man, said he “initially felt happy and care-free living as a puppy,” but that Lannister changed and grew more abusive and aggressive shortly after living together. Both victims described beatings using a leather flog called “The Scorpion” and rape used as a form of punishment. Video obtained by investigators in a search of his home showed Lannister flogging the female victim. They only escaped after a pizza delivery man was so shocked by their injuries that he immediately called the police. The male victim said he was whipped and flogged about his scrotum around three times per week. Lannister also used a razor blade attached to a chopstick to carve the initials “AD” – for the nickname “Amber Dragon” – into the victim’s back. The victim said he consented to the branding only because he was scared of Lannister.

Lannister freely admitted he enjoyed subjecting his victims to pain and humiliation.

“Just as a masochist enjoys receiving pain for pleasure, a sadist enjoys giving pain for pleasure,” Lannister explained.

Following the sentencing, police released a statement lauding the news.

“I welcome the sentencing of Scott Lannister who will now face the consequences for these degrading, violent attacks,” Detective Inspector Forbes Wilson, of the Forth Valley Public Protection Unit, said in a statement. “Sexual crimes, of any nature, will not be tolerated.”