Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Aberdeen man found not guilty of rape says accusation has ‘ruined his life’

High Court in Aberdeen
High Court in Aberdeen

An Aberdeen man cleared of raping a woman in the city’s Union Terrace Gardens yesterday said his life has been “in ruins” since he was accused of the attack more than three years ago.

Daniel Sangster was found not guilty at the end of a four-day trial.

He was alleged to have raped the woman on March 27, 2016 after meeting her in the priory nightclub in the city centre.

The seven men and eight women on the jury at the High Court delivered a majority not guilty verdict yesterday after deliberating for about two hours.

Speaking after the verdict, Mr Sangster, who works as a project engineer in the oil and gas industry, said he had been “destroyed” by the proceedings.

He said: “I feel very relieved at the outcome and I’d like to thank the jury.

“I don’t believe this case should ever have come to court and feel I’ve been let down by the Crown.

“But it’s over now. It’s finished. They’ve decided that I was not guilty of the allegations made against me.

“I never hid. I always gave the police what they needed, turned-up when I was asked to and cooperated the entire way.


>> Keep up to date with the latest news with The P&J newsletter


“But my reputation is ruined, no matter the verdict.”

The woman, who gave evidence via video-link, said she met Mr Sangster in the nightclub before leaving with him to share a taxi home.

She told the court they had

taken a walk through the gardens, where she alleged he attacked her.

She claimed he’d held her hands behind her back and continued with the assault despite pleading with him to stop.

The woman claimed the attack lasted “maybe between 30 and 40 seconds” and had left her “distraught” and “disgusted”.

Mr Sangster denied the assault and his counsel, solicitor-advocate Chris Fyffe, suggested the woman had in fact gone to Union Terrace Gardens intending to have sex with his client.

He suggested that Mr Sangster had rejected her advances before calling her “a nasty word” and leaving, but she insisted that was not the case.

During closing speeches on Thursday, Mr Fyffe told jurors there had been “no sign of dishevelment” of the woman’s clothes and added that medical examiners had found no injuries on her.

He asked them to consider whether the woman’s account was “plausible” or instead “something far-fetched”.