A man who raped a female friend after a birthday party has been jailed.
Hamish Paterson preyed on the victim at a house in Aberdeen after she had been drinking and had fallen asleep.
The court was told his victim had gone to the party, which was also attended by Paterson, 25, and, after drinking, later woke in an unfamiliar room to find him on top of her having sex.
The woman was earlier helped upstairs by partygoers and a woman helped her get into pyjamas before she went to bed.
Advocate depute Keith Stewart QC told jurors at the High Court in Edinburgh: “You might conclude the complainer was not in any condition in which she could consent.”
Paterson, formerly of Donmouth Court, Aberdeen, had denied assaulting and raping the woman on October 15 in 2017 while she was asleep and intoxicated, but was unanimously convicted of the offence by a jury.
He was acquitted of a further rape charge, which he had also denied, against another 23-year-old woman, who he also befriended, by a majority not proven verdict.
Paterson told police that the woman at the party kept making advances towards him and got “bladdered”.
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He claimed that he went upstairs to the same room as her to keep an eye on her following concerns that she would be sick.
Defence counsel Craig Findlater said that first offender Paterson was still in work and asked for his bail to be continued ahead of sentencing next month.
The trial judge Lord Uist told Paterson that as he has no previous convictions he was required to obtain a background report on him before passing sentence.
The judge said: “You have been convicted by the jury of the grave crime of rape. In view of the terms of your conviction you will be remanded in custody.”
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