Speyside rapist detained for five years
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A MORAY teenager who raped a 16-year-old girl after meeting her for the first time has been sentenced to five years detention.
Andrew Ewen was aged just 15 when he carried out the sex attack on the victim who he repeatedly raped.
Ewen, now 17, assaulted her at a grassed area in Dufftown, and pushed her to the ground.
He pulled down her shorts, tights and pants and pinned her to the ground during the attack on July 25, 2009 and also forced her to carry out a sex act.
Ewen had denied raping the teenager and maintained it was consensual, but was earlier found guilty of the sex crime.
A judge told him at the High Court in Edinburgh on Tuesday: "You must understand that the jury convicted you of a very serious offence involving the repeated rape of a young woman whom you had met for the first time on the day of the crime."
Lord Pentland said it was clear from the victim’s evidence that she made it plain to him that she did not want to have sex with him.
"You showed no respect for her wishes or indeed her as a person," said the judge.
"At the time you were under the influence of alcohol. This is not an excuse, indeed to my mind, it makes matters worse," said the judge.
"You have the advantage of a good family, a background denied to many who come before the courts and it is extremely disappointing that you have let down your family and yourself so badly," he said.
Lord Pentland said it was also troubling that Ewen, formerly of 34 High Street, Rothes appeared to have "a limited appreciation" of the harm he had caused.
The judge said it was an "anxious case" and he took account of Ewen’s immaturity but the court had a responsibility to reflect society’s "abhorrence" at the crime of rape.
Defence solicitor advocate Ian Bryce said: "His position remains that it was consensual."
He said that Ewen accepted a custodial sentence was inevitable following his conviction and has "deep regrets" about what happened.
He pointed out that Ewen was 15 at the time of the offence but there were signs that he has become considerably more stable since then.
Ewen was placed on the sex offenders’ register.
