A north-east man who pounced on an Australian backpacker on holiday in Scotland has been jailed for five years.
Bruce Reid, of Cullen, was handed the jail term after previously pleading guilty to a charge of assault with intent to rape.
He had offered the woman a lift as she waited for a bus near Inverness in August last year.
She later agreed to go camping with the 50-year-old and when they were in a tent, Reid attacked his victim. The terrified woman escaped his clutches and hid in woodland until police came.
Reid was later held by officers probing the crime.
He yesterday returned to the High Court in Glasgow for sentencing and it emerged Reid already had a previous conviction for a sexual offence.
Lady Stacey told him: “You betrayed the trust that young woman showed in you when she accepted the lift.
“You have caused her a great deal of anguish. She struggled with you and managed to escape in a remote part of the country.
“She must have been extremely frightened. You have caused her injury both physically and emotionally.”
Reid was also placed on the sex offenders list.
Shahid Latif, defending, said Reid made a “gross error of judgement” which was “befuddled by alcohol”.
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