A 49-year-old man has been convicted of the rape of a young woman in Aberdeen city centre.
At the High Court in Glasgow today, Alasdair McDonald admitted sexually assaulting the woman, but denied that he had raped her.
McDonald attacked his 21-year-old victim in Union Terrace Gardens, Aberdeen, at around 3am on January 28, 2016.
The court heard that during the violent rape he ripped off the crotch area of his victim’s pants.
This was found some yards away and contained his DNA.
A forensic expert told the jury that it would have needed excessive force to rip the knickers.
They also heard how he overpowered the woman, forced her to the ground, repeatedly struck her on the head, restricted her breathing by seizing her nose and then dragged her into the bushes and raped her.
Judge Lord Arthurson told McDonald: “You have been convicted of an abhorrent sexual offence against a young woman who was a complete stranger to you.”
The jury were told that after the rape McDonald was initially spoken to as a potential witness and told officers: “I saw a black man walking away.” He denied that he was anywhere near Union Terrace Gardens.
A trawl of CCTV in the city centre revealed that he was in the area at the time the rape was committed.
A police surgeon who examined the victim said that she had suffered “the worst internal injures” he had ever seen.
Lord Arthurson ordered McDonald, who is a prisoner in Barlinnie, Glasgow, to be placed on the sex offenders’ register.
He deferred sentence on him until next month at the High Court in Edinburgh.
Inspector Sheila McDerment, who led the inquiry, said: “Stranger attacks are extremely rare in Scotland, let alone the north-east, which made this a challenging and lengthy investigation involving significant resources from Police Scotland’s Specialist Crime Division along with support from local officers within North-East Division.
“Policing sexual crimes remains a key priority for Police Scotland and we are committed to continually improving the service we provide to victims, supporting and helping them to come forward to report what happened.
“Every report is investigated with the same level of thoroughness regardless of when it happened, and we work closely with our partners to ensure victims receive the necessary support.”