Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill yesterday offered a public apology to a schoolgirl raped by a prisoner on the run from an open jail.

The minister told MSPs he could not begin to imagine the suffering inflicted on the 16-year-old and her family.

He said: "Her fortitude and resilience throughout this whole process has been amazing and I pay tribute to her determination in trying to rebuild her life.

"I apologise unreservedly to her for the shortcomings within our prison system that have allowed this individual to put her through such pain.

"I will be meeting this brave young woman and her family very soon to give her that apology in person and with it the admiration and good wishes of this whole parliament."

The minister's apology came during a statement to MSPs about the case of Robert Foye, 28, who raped the teenager after absconding from Castle Huntly open prison near Dundee last August.

A report by the Scottish Prison Service published last week found there was "always a possibility" that Foye could abscond but said it could not have been predicted that he would go on to commit rape.

Mr MacAskill told how Foye was arrested on August 25 last year in the Cumbernauld area after absconding from Castle Huntly seven days previously.

In January, he pled guilty to the charge of rape while unlawfully at large and is awaiting sentence.

The minister has ordered the prison service to create individual governors at Castle Huntly and Noranside prisons in view of the "substantially increased numbers" of prisoners held there.

He said: "Second and most importantly, there will be a clear presumption against returning a prisoner to the open estate if they have previously absconded."

The possibility had to be retained of returning some offenders to open prisons if this could improve public safety.

Labour justice spokeswoman Pauline McNeill welcomed the Justice Secretary's apology and said: "So far the Scottish Prison Service has failed to do that."