Latest Offenders Edinburgh

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A pervert driving instructor has been convicted of sexually assaulting more teenagers during lessons after a fresh investigation.

Findlay Munro preyed on young women learning to drive in Edinburgh, touching them and making inappropriate comments.

Munro dodged a jail sentence last year after admitting targeting four victims while giving them lessons.

The 63-year-old appeared at the city’s sheriff court on Wednesday to plead guilty to offences against a further four pupils.

Two of the victims were just 17 when creepy Munro took advantage of being alone in a car with them.

The court heard how he sexually assaulted the teens by touching their legs.

Munro also made inappropriate comments to another two women while teaching them to drive.

Sheriff John Cook deferred sentence until next month for reports.

Munro appeared in court last September for sentencing after admitting the four earlier charges.

He was given two years supervision with a conduct requirement to undertake “offence-focused work”.

He was also put on the sex offenders register for two years.

But the court heard on Wednesday how further offences dating back to 2014 had been uncovered.

Munro admitted touching a 17-year-old’s leg without consent during lessons between August 2014 and April 2015.

He also pled guilty to sexually assaulting another 17-year-old by repeatedly touching her leg without consent during lessons between September 2015 and March 2016.

Munro admitted making inappropriate remarks and comments about a third pupil’s appearance for the purposes of gaining sexual gratification between September 2015 and April 2016.

And he admitted the same charge against a fourth woman between December 2019 and March 2020.

Last year the court heard how Munro, of the city’s Baberton area, repeatedly targeted four victims before a police investigation landed him in court.

Those offences took place between 2017 and 2021.

A mother previously told the Record how her 17-year-old daughter was sexually assaulted by “scumbag” Munro. She paid for her daughter to receive weekly two-hour lessons from him when he was an instructor through Red Driving School.

She said: “She came back after the first lesson and told me Munro called all his pupils his ‘girlfriends’. I thought it was bizarre, but my daughter said it was fine, she just wanted to pass her test.

“Looking back, she would get really, really anxious before every lesson but I put it down to nerves.

“Then another girl said police were speaking to Munro’s pupils and my daughter said some things had happened to her.

“I got her to write it down, because it was difficult for her. It was awful to read. I was so angry and contacted the police myself to report it.”

Munro pled guilty to sexually assaulting the teen on various occasions on Edinburgh roads between December 2020 and August last year by touching her on the head and rubbing her thigh.

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A Big Issue seller who was caught spying on a young woman as she used the toilet at a prestigious department store has been placed on the Sex Offenders Register.

Benjamin-Cornel Teglas hid inside a cubicle at the women’s toilets and peered under the partition after the 22-year-old victim had entered the stall next to him at the John Lewis store in Edinburgh.

The shocked woman was said to have been “frozen and alarmed” and after shouting at the pervert she ran from the toilet area and informed staff.

The 20-year-old offender was later picked up by police officers who had viewed CCTV in a bid to identify the culprit following the incident on May 27 this year.

Teglas pleaded guilty to observing the woman doing a private act when he appeared at Edinburgh Sheriff Court with the aid of a Romanian interpreter last month and he returned to the dock for sentencing on Thursday.

Defending lawyer Mary Moultrie said her client was a first offender and he “fully accepts responsibility for his actions”.

Ms Moultrie said Teglas was working full time selling the Big Issue and though he has a non-analogous outstanding matter in Romania he is planning on returning to Scotland to live.

Sheriff Peter McCormack said: “You pleaded guilty a a trial diet to a serious sexual offence whereby you entered the ladies toilets at John Lewis in Edinburgh on May 27.

“CCTV showed you were loitering for around 18 minutes and in the course of that period you looked under a partition greatly to the alarm of a young woman there. The offence meets the custody threshold but I note your age and you have no previous convictions.”

Sheriff McCormack sentenced Teglas to an alternative to a custody and ordered him to carry out 135 hours of unpaid work in the community.

Teglas, of the capital’s Wester Hailes, was also placed on the Sex Offenders Register for five years.

Previously fiscal depute India McLean told the court the victim and her sister were shopping in the John Lewis store when they decided to go to the toilet area at around 2.20pm on May 27 this year.

Ms McLean said Teglas had earlier been spotted loitering around the area and was seen to be “checking around to see if anyone was there” before entering the female toilet.

The court heard the victim then “unknowingly” took the cubicle next to the one Teglas was in and locked the door behind her.

The fiscal depute said: “She then looked down and seen Mr Teglas with his head under her cubicle.

“She was initially frozen and alarmed and has then shouted ‘what do you think you are doing?’

“Mr Teglas held her eye contact and stared at her for a few seconds before removing his head back into his own cubicle.”

The woman fled the toilet area and Teglas was said to have “eventually peered out from his own cubicle and has then made off from the toilet”.

Teglas pleaded guilty to observing a woman doing a private act by occupying a cubicle of a woman’s toilet area and placing his head through the gap under the cubicle and look into the cubicle occupied by her at John Lewis, St James Quarter, Edinburgh, on May 27 this year.

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A despicable rapist who attacked a woman while she waited for a bus in Edinburgh has been jailed.

Christopher Pringle has been sentenced to seven years in prison for raping the woman in August 2020. The 43-year-old, who was convicted at the High Court in May, was also placed on the sex offenders register indefinitely when he returned for sentencing on Friday, July 7.

Detective Chief Inspector George Calder said: Pringles behaviour was despicable, and he will now face the consequences of his actions. It is my sincere hope the courage shown in this case will reassure all victims of sexual violence that they can come forward, no matter how much time has passed, and report it to police. Be assured, we will fully investigate, and you will be supported by officers and our partner agencies.

This case was brought to a conclusion by the divisional rape investigation unit, a specialist unit dedicated to robustly and sensitively investigate cases of this nature, bringing perpetrators to justice and supporting victims and their families."

STV News reports the woman was waiting for a bus when she was attacked by Pringle in Crown Street, off Leith Walk, on August 20, 2020.

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A 40-YEAR-OLD man has been remanded in custody at Jedburgh Sheriff Court after he admitted attempting to communicate indecently with a 12-year-old girl.

Ashley Bell approached his intended victim on the Instagram messaging service, before switching the conversation to Snapchat – where messages delete themselves once they have been read.

Despite being told she was getting ready for school and looking forward to her 13th birthday, the court heard Bell instigated conversations about sex toys, breasts and “spent quite a bit of time” boasting about the size of his manhood.

It later emerged the person Bell had been communicating with was in fact an undercover police officer and their chat had been recorded.

Bell admitted intentionally, and for the purposes of obtaining sexual gratification, or of humiliating, distressing or alarming a person he believed was a child under the age of 13, sending messages of a sexual nature to her over social media.

Bell, described as a prisoner in Edinburgh, committed the offence at an address in Lovel Court, Hawick, and elsewhere, between March 6 and 15.

Sentence was deferred on Bell until July 31 for background reports, including guidance on post-release supervision

Sheriff Douglas Keir warned him he is likely to receive a custodial sentence, in addition to being the subject of the notification requirements of the Sexual Offences Act.

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A man responsible for the non-recent sexual abuse of young people in Edinburgh has been jailed.

At the High Court in Glasgow on Wednesday, 7 June, 2023, James Grover was sentenced to four years in prison for assaults on three people during the 1990s and 2000s.

The 41-year-old became subject of a Police Scotland public protection investigation in 2019 after the victims, who were aged between 12 and 15 years old at the time of the offences reported their abuse.

Grover was arrested and charged on 6 February 2020 before being found guilty of lewd and libidinous practices, indecent assault and assault on 2 May, 2023.

Detective Inspector Jonny Wright, who led the investigation, said: "Over a number of years, James Grover targeted his victims and subjected them to serious abuse that was both physical and sexual.

"These individuals showed incredible courage to come forward and make us aware of Grover's offending, allowing us to conduct a thorough investigation, which ultimately led to his conviction and prison sentence.

"I want to thank them for their bravery and support of our inquiries. I hope today's outcome brings them closure and peace of mind.

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He appeared in the dock at Edinburgh Sheriff Court for sentencing last Wednesday, April 5, after previously pleading guilty to charges. Police had raided him home after a tip off.

An Edinburgh man who downloaded vile child abuse images depicting the rape of infants has been caged for three years and placed on the Sex Offenders Register for life.

Christopher Donaldson was caught with a horrific haul of images and films including images of children under the age of 12 months being sexually abused by adult men.

Donaldson, 34, also distributed some of the harrowing movies involving male and female children to fellow perverts he was in contact with online.

He appeared in the dock at Edinburgh Sheriff Court for sentencing last Wednesday, April 5, after previously pleading guilty to charges of possessing and distributing the material over a four week period in 2021.

Sheriff Alison Stirling jailed Donaldson for three years and placed him on the Sex Offenders Register for an indefinite period.

Fiscal depute Ross Price told the court police officers raided Donaldson’s home in the Stenhouse area of the capital following an anonymous tip off in October 2021.

The court was told the offender was at home with his partner when police arrived and that he had admitted he had downloaded the images.

Officers seized two mobile phones from the property and following a forensic examination the movies were found hidden on the devices.

Mr Price said the images showed male and female children aged between “under one-years-old and 15-years-old” being sexually abused by adult men.

The fiscal said Donaldson had been sent a total of 149 files through the Telegram messaging service and that he had then sent on 90 of the images to other perverts online.

Donaldson admitted to possessing and distributing indecent images of children between September 10 and October 5 2021.

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Raymond Nyiam, 31, from Edinburgh, who appeared at the High Court in Glasgow via a videolink, was convicted of raping the women while they were drunk and asleep or unconscious and incapable of giving consent.

He met both his victims at a nightclub and pounced later at houses in Edinburgh. One victim was eight years younger than Nyiam and the other 10.

The offences were committed on March 5, 2017 and on November 28 at addresses in Edinburgh while both victims were asleep after enjoying a night out in the city. In both cases, the women were attacked while they were vulnerable and Nyiam took advantage of his physical strength.

Judge Laura Drummond QC told Nyiam: You knew these women for less than 24 hours after meeting them in a nightclub and going home with them.

They have been significantly affected by your actions. Their lives have been affected in almost every aspect.

You have a propensity to be a danger to the public, but the assessment is that you are able to change.

Nyiam will be on licence and monitored in the community for three years after his release from prison.

He was also placed on the Sex Offenders' Register.

Solicitor advocate Euan Roy said his client had had a hedonistic lifestyle and an anti-social personality disorder and added He has expressed a willingness to engage in appropriate rehabilitative interventions.

Following the case, Detective Inspector Jonny Wright of Police Scotlands Public Protection Unit for the capital, said: Raymond Nyiam preyed on the two women following nights out in Edinburgh City Centre.

Both victims have shown tremendous bravery by coming forward to the police and ensuring that Nyiam has been held accountable for his actions.

Nyiam clearly thought he could get away with this despicable behaviour, however he was very wrong, and I hope this sends a clear message that nobody is above the law.

I would urge anyone who believes they have been the victim of a sexual crime to contact Police Scotland through 101.

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A serial sex offender has been jailed after preying on women in Fife during a decade-long reign of terror.

John Weir, who also goes by the name John Krogan, was previously convicted of a number of sexual offences, including rape.

The 29-year-old carried out the horrendous crimes spanning a decade on a number of women in Fife between 2010 and 2020 - the first assault taking place when he was just a teenager.

Yesterday, the beast was jailed for eight years at the High Court in Aberdeen.

Detective Sergeant Lauren O’Neil said: “Weir carried out these crimes over a number of years and he will now face the consequence of his despicable actions in prison.

“I hope this sentencing gives the victims who came forward some comfort and allows them to move forward.

“We take reports of such offences seriously, regardless of how much time has passed and work to support victims. I would encourage anyone who has been impacted by this type of crime to report it.”

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An Edinburgh man appeared in court after sending explicit videos to '13-year-old Josh' on social media site dedicated to street hockey and tried to arrange a meeting.

A predator used a street hockey Facebook group to groom a ‘schoolboy’ who turned out to be anundercover cop.

Spirit Traum was the administrator of a social media group dedicated to the sport and was contacted by ‘13-year-old Josh’ who wished to join.

Traum, 22, started sending explicit photos and videos of himself to ‘Josh’ along with obscene messages.

But the youngster was actually a police officer tasked with catching perverts online by using fake accounts, as the Daily Record reports.

Police swooped on Traum hours after he tried to arrange to meet ‘Josh’ near his Edinburgh address.

Traum appeared at the city’s sheriff court on Tuesday and pled guilty to attempting to communicate indecently with an older child.

He also admitted attempting to meet someone he believed was an older child with the intention of engaging in unlawful sexual activity.

Fiscal depute Alan Wickham said the officer posing as Josh sent a request to join a Facebook group on street hockey where Traum was one of the administrators.

Mr Wickham said: “Josh was pretending to be interested in learning the game.”

Traum began sending explicit images to Josh over the course of seven days, the court heard, and stated he was the person in the photos, including one where he was naked and tied up.

Mr Wickham said Josh told the accused he was 13 and “regularly reminded” him of his age during their conversations.

Trauma asked the ‘teenager’ if he was “smooth or hairy”, later adding: “I like boys smooth.”

Mr Wickham said Traum continued to send explicit images and videos and asked for nudes of Josh to be sent in return.

The prosecutor said: “It was suggested by the accused that they meet. The accused stated he wanted to meet Josh to play hockey but went on to state, ‘You might get f****ed after’.”

Police detained Traum at his home in the city’s Fountainbridge area on September 28 2021, and he was taken to Dalkeith police station.

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Da Vinci rapist Robert Greens was attacked in his ex-wife’s home by a family member who discovered him hiding in a cupboard.

The 44-year-old sex offender is said to have grown close to former wife Angela Gibson since his release from prison last year. But enraged relatives were fuming when they found him in her Penicuik home on Friday night and a fight broke out.

It’s the second time in a week Greens has been assaulted after he was punched by a member of the public at Hogmanay after a night of drinking in the Midlothian town

A family source said: “This family member was furious when they found out Greens was in Angie’s house. Greens and Angie have been seen around town together and her family are not happy. She’s been away from him since he was convicted and nobody can believe she is putting herself at risk being with him again.”

In the earlier incident, it's understood Greens was assaulted outside a pub as he was making his way home after celebrating the New Year Prior to the attack he was in a local sports bar and angered other customers when he refused to leave. Greens was said to have been with Angela.

Sources said Greens was being “loud and cheeky” in the Crescent sports bar before being asked to leave the premises. When he refused he became involved in an altercation with another man before angrily leaving and claiming he would return with relatives. He was then punched in the town’s John Street.

The source said: “He was hit outside the pub. Folk couldn’t believe the brass neck of him being in the club acting like any normal person instead of a notorious sex offender who’s just done 17 years in prison. We don’t know what the hell he’s playing at. He should be keeping a low profile, not sitting celebrating New Year in a club and annoying other customers. He needs to get out of Penicuik. People are still angry at what he did and nobody has forgotten or forgiven.”

Greens sparked angry protests in October when residents in Danderhall, Midlothian, discovered he was living among them. It’s understood he is no longer living in the flat in Neatoune Court. The beast was dubbed the Da Vinci rapist for his horrific attack in 2005 on a student near Rosslyn Chapel in Midlothian, a key ­location in the book The Da Vinci Code. The 19-year-old suffered horrific injuries, which were initially thought to have come from a car smash.

Greens was freed from prison in 2012, having served two-thirds of his sentence. The following year, he was returned to jail after he broke one of the conditions of his release by visiting the home town of his former wife. He was again released in 2017 but hauled back to prison after another breach.

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A serial sex offender who was caught with a shocking haul of child abuse images for the second time has been jailed for 16 months.

Nathan Whitelaw, also known as Salkeld, was found to have downloaded hundreds of indecent images of children when police officers checked his mobile phone earlier this year.

Whitelaw, 24, was convicted of a similar offence last year and police were conducting an unannounced search of his Edinburgh flat when he was caught for the second time.

The pervert told the officers he had bought the device as he wanted to “test himself” due to his sexual interest in young children. Whitelaw was also convicted of sexual communication and attempting to meet up with a 13 year old child he had contacted online in 2018.

But he was caught in a paedophile hunter sting when it emerged he had in fact been in contact with an adult decoy connected to the Groom Resisters Scotland group. Whitelaw was handed community payback orders on both previous occasions and placed on the Sex Offenders Register.

He was back in the dock for sentencing at Edinburgh Sheriff Court on Tuesday after previously admitting possessing indecent images of children between February 22 and May 10 this year

Sheriff Daniel Kelly said: “You are already on two community payback orders. The orders imposed have not prevented you from reoffending.

“In terms of the social work report you are at a high risk of [sexual] reconviction. That means on this occasion there is no other sentence appropriate other than custody.” Whitelaw was jailed for 16 months and placed on the Sex Offenders Register for 10 years.

He was also handed a five-year Sexual Offences Prevention Order which bans him from accessing any social media site without gaining prior permission.

Previously the court was told Whitelaw had been housed by Edinburgh City Council at a property in the Leith area of the capital following last year’s conviction. Police officers attended the home as part of an unannounced search and uncovered the phone which he was banned from owning on May 10 this year.

Whitelaw was said to have appeared “nervous and agitated” to the officers and he was cautioned and charged at the time. The court heard the offender’s mobile phone was found to contain 801 images and videos rated at Category A - the most depraved end of the scale.

He also possessed 172 images and videos at Category B along with a further 1445 said to be at Category C. The court heard Whitelaw had bought the phone three months previously “in a bid to test himself” against reoffending.

Solicitor Steven Donald, defending, said his client had a keen interest in computing which had led him “to go down the rabbit hole” of searching out child abuse images.

Mr Donald said Whitelaw had been making progress while on his previous community-based order “to such an extent he wanted to test himself”.

The images were said to have been part of a “data dump” sent to Whitelaw by another person and all the images had been inaccessible. Mr Donald added: “There is an acceptance on his part he has an attraction [to children].”

Whitelaw pleaded guilty to possessing indecent images of children at a property at Persevere Court, Edinburgh, between February 22 and May 10 this year.

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A man who trussed a woman to a bed moments before subjecting her to a violent rape ordeal has been jailed for 15 years.

Kevin Hood, 34, attacked the female, who cannot be named for legal reasons, at an address in Edinburgh in August 2021. The high court in the city heard last month how Hood subjected the woman to a terrifying ordeal during the attack.

He demanded her mobile telephone password to see who she had been speaking to. The court heard that Hood then prevented her from leaving a bedroom and fastened her ankles and wrists to a bed, detaining her there against her will.

READ MORE - Edinburgh teen loses control of e-scooter after flouting rules on busy main road

Hood then started to choke the woman before raping her. But Hoods victim plucked up enough courage to speak to the police who launched an investigation into his activities.

Detectives then found enough evidence against Hood to bring him to justice. On Wednesday, the court heard how Hood had told a social worker tasked with finding out more about his background that he used sex workers.

He also told the social worker that he liked to indulge in sex which included restraints and strangulations. Judge Lord Arthurson told Hood that as he had been assessed at being at high risk of re-offending, the only sentence available to the court was prison.

Lord Arthurson also told Hood that the risk he posed to women in general was such that hed have been supervised by the authorities for 10 years following his release from custody. Passing sentence, Lord Arthurson said: This crime is one of the worst that Ive had to deal with in my judicial career.

This was a sustained assault using sickening acts of violence undertaken with the purpose of controlling your victim. Given the circumstances of the offence, the only disposal that can be in the circumstances is the imposition of a extremely long custodial one.

The sentence being imposed is to punish you, reflect societys revulsion at such crimes and to deter others from committing them. The story emerged on last month when a jury found Hood, who lives in Edinburgh city centre, guilty of raping the woman.

He had pleaded guilty at an earlier stage in proceedings to charges of subjecting the woman he raped to threatening behaviour. He also pleaded guilty to assaulting another woman and subjecting her to threatening behaviour in 2018.

Following conviction, prosecutor Richard Goddard KC told Lord Arthurson that prior to his arrest, Hood was unemployed. Mr Goddard also said that the accused has appeared in court on previous occasions.

He added: The accused has a significant criminal record. On Wednesday, Lord Arthurson also placed Hood on the Sex Offenders Register for life.

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A court has heard how a 63-year-old man tricked women into speaking to him before he sexually assaulted them.

A man targeted seven lone women while they were out walking their dogs and heading to work in Edinburgh city centre.
 
Mirza Mohammad Saeed sexually assaulted the women - including a 15-year-old girl - by grabbing their hands and attempting to kiss them on the mouth. Saeed, 63, used the ruse of stopping his victims to ask them to take a picture of him on his phone before he made a grab for them and leaning in to kiss them.

Edinburgh Sheriff Court was told on Wednesday that Saeed attacked the seven victims as they walked their dogs at the city’s Harrison Park and as they headed to work along the Union Canal pathway. Saeed, of the Capital’s Fountainbridge area, appeared in the dock to plead guilty to seven sexual assaults and had not guilty pleas to eight further similar offences accepted by the Crown.

Fiscal depute James Clark told the court Saeed assaulted three female dog walkers at Harrison Park between 8am and 9.45am on December 31, 2020. The fiscal said all three women were approached by Saeed and asked to take a photograph of him before he then asked for a picture of both of them together.
All the women denied the request for a photo together and Saeed proceeded to kiss them on the hand and attempt to kiss them on the mouth. Mr Clark told the court the women were left feeling “uncomfortable”, “upset” and “vulnerable” during the attacks.

The court was also told Saeed targeted lone women as they made their way along the city’s Union Canal pathway between 3pm and 4.45pm on February 20 last year. The fiscal said Saeed carried out similar behaviour to get the women to stop and talk to him before he attempted to kiss them.

The court also heard of the assault on the 15 year old girl on the same date as she walked her dog in the Craiglockhart area.

Again Saeed approached the girl and asked her to take his picture before he leaned in and tried to kiss her on the mouth. The girl fought the attacker off by pushing him to the chest and shouting “no, no” at him. The girl later said the attack left her feeling “alone and scared”.
Solicitor Mark Hutchison said his client was a father-of-six, has been in the UK for three years and had been “lonely and suffering from stress at the time of the offending”.

Mr Hutchison told the court Saeed plans to travel to Pakistan next week to attend his daughter’s wedding and will return to Scotland in late November. Sheriff Adrian Fraser agreed to release Saeed on bail and deferred sentence for the preparation of social work reports and a restriction of liberty assessment to December. The sheriff also placed Saeed on the sex offenders register for a term still to be determined.
Saeed pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting seven women at Harrison Park and the Union Canal Pathway, both Edinburgh, on December 31, 2020 and February 20 last year.

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An Edinburgh man who sexually assaulted a sleeping friend who had visited him after she had attended a church service has been placed on the sex offenders register.

Bogdan Raczynski pounced on the woman as she slept on a sofa following a drinking session at his flat in the “frightening” incident area of the city last year. Raczynski, 53, crept up to the woman in the middle of the night and pulled her leggings and underwear down before she woke up and shouted for him to stop.

The victim fled the home the following morning and after confiding in a friend decided to report the stopped the attack to the police. The creep appeared in the dock at Edinburgh Sheriff Court for sentencing on Thursday after previously admitting the sex assault.

Defence agent Peter Winning said his client “accepted culpability” for the offence and said he had stopped the attack when the woman told him to. Mr Winning said the first offender had a “good work history” and leads “a relatively quiet life”.

Sheriff Kenneth Campbell KC said: “When this matter called before me previously I heard a full account of the circumstances and your conduct on the occasion I heard about was completely unacceptable.

“This must have been a troubling, upsetting and frightening experience for the woman concerned. I take account of the fact you stopped when she said she did want your advances.

“On balance I am satisfied there is an alternative to custody in this case.” Raczynski was placed on the Sex Offenders Register and under the supervision of the local social work department for the next 18 months.

He was also ordered to carry out 225 hours of unpaid work in the community. Previously fiscal depute Jennifer McLaren told the court Raczynski and the woman had been friends for around 15 years and she had attended at his flat with a pal on March 29 last year.

Ms McLaren said: “Around 5.30pm [the victim] and a friend attended a church service together and following this [she] contacted the accused and asked if she could visit him and he agreed. Upon their arrival the accused was at home alone and the three sat together eating food and drinking alcohol. This was a mixture of whisky and vodka.”

The court heard the socialising went on for “a number hours” and after the women missed their last bus Raczynski agreed they could stay over. The complainer slept on the couch in the living room while her friend slept in the spare bedroom.

Ms McLaren said they woman, who cannot be identified due to legal reasons, woke up between 3am and 4am to find Raczynski “standing over her”. The court heard he “grabbed hold of her leg and seized hold of her leggings” and tried to “pull these down”.

The fiscal said a struggle ensued where he “successfully managed to lower the clothing of [the woman] including her underwear” before she told him to stop. The woman then lost consciousness and after waking in the morning she and her friend quickly left the flat.

The woman told her friend about the attack and the police were contacted. Raczynski pleaded guilty to an amended charge of sexually assaulting a woman by repeatedly attempting to remove her lower clothing, struggling with her and removing her lower clothing at his home on March 29 last year.

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A sex predator who molested and raped an underage teenage girl after her school friend had been in contact with him through a website was jailed on Thursday, September 1.

James McAllister left his victim in pain after an initial encounter when she said he knew she was 13 years old but then later subjected her to a rape at a flat in Edinburgh.

One attack happened at a flat in Gilmerton.

A sex predator who molested and raped an underage teenage girl after her school friend had been in contact with him through a website was jailed on Thursday, September 1.

James McAllister left his victim in pain after an initial encounter when she said he knew she was 13 years old but then later subjected her to a rape at a flat in Edinburgh.

The woman, now aged 33, told the High Court in Edinburgh that if someone was looking her at the time of the offences they would have seen "a child".

She said that the abuse inflicted on her by the older man had left her crying, shaking, upset and feeling dirty.

McAllister, 44, of Newtoft Street, in Edinburgh had denied subjecting her to indecent conduct at a car park in Newtongrange, in Midlothian, between August 22 in 2002 and August 21 in 2004.

He also denied assaulting and raping her at a flat in the Gilmerton area of Edinburgh between the same dates. He was found guilty of both offences.

The woman said that in early years at high school her friend had accessed a website which she described as being like the dating website Plenty of Fish. She told her she had been speaking to a man called James.

She said a meeting had been arranged for her and her friend with the man and her friend had indicated they were both 18.

"She had asked if I would go along with her to meet James in Dalkeith," she said.

She said they dressed and put make-up on to try to look older, but added the attempt failed. She said they hid in bushes at the library in the Midlothian town and waited for James to arrive in his car.

The woman said she told her friend they would need to disclose that they were not 18 because they did not look old enough to be that age.

She said her friend contacted McAllister and told him they were really 13. She said: "The reply was 'it's fine come over to the car'."

She said McAllister drove off with them in the car. She told the court: "I thought we were going in the car just to drive about."

The woman said they were driven to an area with no other cars about and her friend left the vehicle. She said: "There was a discussion about who was getting picked to stay in the car."

She said she was petrified and added: "I didn't think my friend was going to be leaving me in the car with someone I didn't know."

She said McAllister started kissing and put his tongue in her mouth. She said it was "disgusting" and "tasted like cigarettes".

McAllister began touching her and got her to touch him and carried out a sex act, leaving her feeling sore. She said he asked her to carry out a sex act on him but she did not known what she was doing.

Advocate depute Stewart Ronnie asked the woman: "As far as you were concerned he knew you were 13?". She replied: "Yes."

Her friend returned and they were driven back to the library and left there while McAllister drove off.

She said that after McAllister had contacted her again and told her he liked her and that she was pretty. He said he would buy her drink and let her watch TV music channels. He also bought her top ups for her phone.

"I was young.. I was offered alcohol. I didn't have stuff like music videos at home, " she said. She and her friend met him again by the library and were driven to an address in the Gilmerton area.

She said McAllister gave her Bacardi breezers before he asked her to follow him to a bedroom and told her to take her clothes off.

She said he stripped off and performed a sex act on her but his beard left her with "a burning sensation". She said he began raping her but she said it was sore and asked him to stop.

The woman said: "He said it was fine, that was what was meant to happen. It was meant to be sore. At that point he kept pushing it in."

She said she eventually managed to get up from the bed and picked up her clothes, but was in "searing pain".

Afterwards she got back in the car with her friend but when they reached the Eskbank roundabout, which was the first place she recognised, she asked him to stop. They got out of the car but she burst out crying uncontrollably.

She said she and her friend later printed off some pictures of her attacker and stuck them up in Dalkeith calling him a paedophile. She gave a statement to police in 2018.

After McAllister was found guilty of the sex offences the trial judge, Lord Weir, told him he been convicted of serious charges.

The court heard that although McAllister has previous convictions he has never served a jail sentence.

The judge adjourned the case for the preparation of a background report and McAllister, who was on bail during his trial was remanded in custody.

He was placed on the sex offender's register