A man who raped a drunk teenager in Aberdeen was jailed for three and a half years on Thursday for his “opportunistic” crime.
Philip Milne (45) assaulted his victim after she had lost her phone, handbag and keys following a night out.
A judge told Milne at the High Court in Edinburgh that he had committed “a serious sexual assault on an intoxicated and vulnerable young woman”.
Milne had earlier denied raping the woman on January 28 in 2019 at an address in Aberdeen while she was intoxicated through alcohol and incapable of giving or withholding consent.
Milne had maintained at his trial that she was able to give consent and did so. But he was convicted of the offence by a jury.
The court heard that the 18-year-old victim had no memory of the incident.
Defence counsel Lorenzo Alonzi said that Milne had no previous convictions and no pending cases.
He told the court: “The crime itself can only be described as an opportunistic one.”
Mr Alonzi argued that Milne posed little future risk and said: “The conviction itself is a significant punishment on its own for him.”
The judge, Lord Fairley, told Milne that the seriousness of the offence meant that only a custodial sentence was appropriate.
Milne, formerly of Cherry Row, Udny Station, Ellon, Aberdeenshire, was placed on the sex offenders’ register for an indefinite period as he followed today’s sentencing via a video link to prison.