A man who was given a six year jail stretch for raping a woman at a party in Aberdeen has succeeded in having his sentence reduced.
Julius Derkintis, 21, was told yesterday that his prison term was being cut to three years. The Lithuanian born sex attacker learned of the news following a hearing at the Court of Criminal Appeal in Edinburgh.
His lawyers argued that his sentence had been excessive and should be cut. Judges Lord Brodie and Lady Clark of Calton agreed and ordered that Derkintis’ sentence should be reduced.
Derkintis was jailed following a hearing at the High Court in Edinburgh in August 2014. The court had earlier heard how Derkintis attacked the female, who cannot be named for legal reasons, at a house in King’s Crescent, Aberdeen, in June 2013. Derkintis, who lived in the city’s Victoria Road, claimed the sex he had with his victim was consensual. They had spent an evening celebrating a Lithuanian holiday at a party.
It was the first time that Derkintis had met the woman. But the woman told the court that Derkintis had sex with her after she had fallen asleep.
She told prosecution lawyer Ian McSporran that she had been raped. She added: “I don’t understand how I would be able to consent if I was passed out and unconscious. “Was I in any state to give legitimate consent? I don’t think so.” A jury then convicted Derkintis of rape. Following conviction temporary judge Nigel Morrison QC also placed Derkintis on the Sex Offenders Register for life. On Tuesday, Lord Brodie and Lady Clark ruled that the circumstances surrounding the offence merited a cut in Derkintis’s sentence. ends. ends.