Scotland's most senior judge, the Lord President of the Court of Session, has begun an investigation after a woman was jailed for trying to flee the witness box while giving evidence against a man she claims raped her.

Ann Robertson, 43, was remanded by Roger Craik, QC, during the case against George Cummings at the High Court in Edinburgh earlier this month.

She was arrested and held in police cells overnight after breaking down during cross-examination and failing to deliver her testimony.

Ms Robertson has made an official complaint against Mr Craik, a temporary sheriff, and called for him to be dismissed.

A spokeswoman for the Lord President, Lord Hamilton, confirmed that a complaint had been received and was being considered.

It is thought to be the first time that the Lord President, who is also Lord Justice General of Scotland, has been approached to intervene in such a case. His investigation is expected to take several weeks.

Last week Cummings, 69, was found guilty of abusing two young girls in the 1970s and on Monday was sentenced to 3 years in prison. The charge of raping Ms Robertson, who now lives in Yorkshire, was dropped.

Ms Robertson ran from the witness box after being asked questions about her personal life by Cummings's counsel. She has said that when she returned, Mr Craik warned her that she could be held in contempt of court if she did not answer. She requested a short break, but by the time she went back to the court the case had been adjourned and the sheriff said that she would spend the night in the cells. She was then handcuffed and driven to St Leonards police station, in Edinburgh, in a security van.

Ms Robertson accused Mr Craik of treating her more like a criminal than a victim.

She said: “The judge turned round and said, ‘Well maybe a night in the cells will calm you down'. It was just totally out of line and then I was escorted from the witness box and then I was arrested by the police.”

Ms Robertson was brought back to court the next morning to finish her evidence.

She described her treatment as

“absolutely appalling” and claimed that it could deter other women from reporting rapes.

“If that's the way that he's going to treat future victims then his reaction is going to stop people coming forward,” she said.

Scotland has one of the lowest convictions rates for rape in the West. Of the 922 allegations of rape made to police between 2006 and 2007, 27 resulted in a conviction.

Elish Angiolini, the Lord Advocate, has made it a personal priority to improve the conviction rates. In a newspaper article published last year, she pledged to “minimise” the trauma associated with reporting rape and giving evidence in court.

The prosecution service is in the final stages of implementing a big overhaul of the way that rape allegations are investigated and prosecuted.

Sandy Brindley, national co-ordinator of Rape Crisis Scotland, said that Ms Robertson's experience highlighted the “inappropriate” way victims in rape cases were subjected to questioning in front of their attackers about their sexual history.

“We think it is appalling,” she said. “It is absolutely extraordinary for a judge to take that sort of action. It is never appropriated, but that is especially true in a rape case.”

Margaret Curran, the Labour MSP, said: “This is profoundly shocking. This judge has obviously not listened to any of the guidance given to help protect victims giving evidence."