A rapist whose attack on his victim caused her to run into a residential street half naked screaming for help has been jailed for seven years.
The woman had earlier dubbed her attacker, Westhill offshore worker Don Webley, “a beast” and pleaded for help in messages before she fled from the flat where she was subjected to the ordeal.
Webley, 43, of Mackie Place, Westhill, had denied raping the woman at his then home at a flat in Granton Medway, Edinburgh, on September 18 in 2022 and claimed in a special defence that sexual activity between them was consensual.
But a jury at the High Court in Edinburgh convicted him on a majority verdict in February 2025 of committing the sex crime during which he grabbed the woman, removed her lower clothing, licked her ear and raped her.
Webley was acquitted of attempting to murder the victim by placing an arm around her and compressing her neck, restricting her breathing.
Sentence had been deferred for the court to obtain reports.
Today, Webley appeared once again at the High Court in Edinburgh for sentencing.
Judge Michael O’Grady KC gave Webley a seven-year long sentence for the offence. He also ordered Webley to be supervised for a period of three years following release.
Judge O’Grady warned him he could be sent back to prison if he breached his licence conditions post-release.
Passing sentence, judge O’Grady said: “Any rape is abhorrent and what we know from the evidence of the aftermath of this attack was that this was deeply distressing and damaging for this particular victim.”
He told Webley that he also had to consider his previous convictions and said that although the bulk of these were some time ago, his record was “persistent and appalling” and showed that Webley would resort to significant violence.
Speaking about Webley’s most recent conviction, judge O’Grady described it as “cowardly and appalling”.
Victim thought she was going to die
The court heard that on the Sunday morning when the rape occurred a man walking along Granton Medway towards a baker’s shop came across the woman screaming and shouting: “Phone the police.”
The woman was crying and hysterical and only wearing a top and he made a 999 call to emergency services.
PC David Parsons was one of the officers who responded to the call and found the woman sitting in a dark recess in a stairwell at the street.
He said: “She was sitting on the ground with her back against the wall. She had her knees up to her chest and she was holding her knees, sort of cradling herself in that position.”
He noticed she was wearing a hoodie and was “sort of whimpering”. He said: “She told me she had been raped and she had run away. She told me she had run away from a flat in that street but didn’t know which one.”
The officer said: “She told me it was Don Webley and Don Webley had raped her. She told me it happened more than once. She told me she was choked and thought she was going to die.”
“She was struggling to speak, she was that upset. She was struggling to breathe because she was crying so much,” he said.
The woman told a policewoman that she was at the flat with others but was left alone with Webley after they departed. Messages were found on her phone asking for help and saying she was trying to get away. One said: “He is a beast.”
Rapist maintains his innocence
During a search at Webley’s flat police found trainers, jogging bottoms, pants and a handbag belonging to the woman.
Webley was placed on the sex offenders’ register following his conviction for the rape of the woman who did not give evidence during the trial.
On Tuesday, defence solicitor advocate Marco Guarino told the court that whilst maintaining his innocence, his client accepted the verdict of the jury “as he must do.”
Mr Guarino added: “He has indicated he would be willing, prepared and able to take part in any rehabilitative work in a custodial setting.”
He said that Webley had previously been working offshore as deck crew in the North Sea.
Judge O’Grady also passed a non harassment order on Webley, prohibiting him from contacting the victim indefinitely.
Webley was also placed on the Sex Offenders Register for life.