A Peterhead fisherman who carried out a “dreadful” sex attack on a vulnerable woman he supplied with a potent drug has had his jail sentence cut by appeal judges.
Andrew Marsters, 48, gave his victim Etizolam before molesting her during the assault at a house in the Aberdeenshire town.
A judge who jailed him for seven years, earlier this year, told him: “This was a dreadful sexual assault.”
But lawyers acting for Marsters appealed against the jail term imposed on him, claiming that it was “excessive”.
Now judges at the Court of Criminal Appeal in Edinburgh have quashed the original sentence and substituted it with a six-year prison term.
State of distress
Marsters, of Peterhead, previously admitted sexually assaulting the woman in September 2019 while she was intoxicated through drugs and incapable of consenting.
He also admitted being concerned in the supply of the Class C drug and possessing Etizolam.
The sentencing judge, Lord Boyd of Duncansby, told Marsters at the High Court in Edinburgh that the woman, who was aged 26 at the time of the offence, was in an intoxicated state because of the drugs he had supplied to her.
Following the attack on her, the woman ran out of the house in a state of distress.
Seven years was excessive
Lord Doherty, who heard the appeal with Lord Malcolm, said it was a very serious sexual assault.
He added: “The appellant took advantage of a vulnerable, intoxicated woman who was incapable of consenting”.
The judges said they were in no doubt that a lengthy sentence was justified but were persuaded that seven years was excessive for the offence.
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