Rapist jailed in '˜too drunk to consent' case

The victim was left with a bite mark and bleeding after the sex attack.

Sarrazin, of Bourg-La-Reine, in France, had denied raping the woman to her injury

on July 25, 2015 while she was intoxicated and asleep and continuing the assault after ignoring her when she told him “no”. But a jury at the High Court in Edinburgh convicted him of the offence on a majority verdict.

Advocate depute Iain McSporran QC told jurors: “The Crown case is that she was incapable of consenting to sex with the accused because of the effects of alcohol and in particular she was asleep or unconscious through the effects of alcohol.”

The prosecutor said he continued to rape her even after she awoke, despite her protests, using force and strength.

Mr McSporran said the woman had been “positively proud and protective of her virginity”. He said: “She was anxious to ensure it only happened at the right time with the right man.”

On the night, she had met up with a female workmate before they went out with Sarrazin and others to bars in the Cowgate and ended up back at the flat.

Sarrazin claimed to police that he had asked the woman if he could sleep with her and she said yes but then changed her mind. He maintained that he later began touching her and sex took place. He told police that at no point did she tell him to stop and added: “For me, she was conscious.”

First offender Sarrazin, who had been on bail during his trial, was remanded in custody yesterday after he was found guilty of the offence.

The judge, Lord Kinclaven, deferred sentence on the rapist for the preparation of a background report. Sarrazin will be sentenced next month at the High Court in Glasgow.

He was placed on the sex offenders’ register.