Man facing life for raping woman who came to inspect his house

Keith Stevenson, 39, attacked a property manager who came to inspect his house in Gorebridge, in March 2015.

The High Court in Edinburgh heard how Stevenson attacked the woman as she was going to leave.

The 51-year-old woman said Stevenson refused to allow her to exit.

She told the court that Stevenson grabbed her by the neck and forced her to a bedroom before he sexually assaulted her.

The court heard how she tried to make Stevenson stop by pretending she was pregnant. But he told her to shut up and continued his sickening attack.

But the woman fought back - she started kicking and biting him.

The court heard that the woman eventually managed to leave Stevenson’s house and drove to a hospital before calling police for help.

On Monday, jurors took just over an hour to return a guilty verdict.

Prosecution lawyer Peter Ferguson QC then said that the pervert had been previously convicted at the High Court on two different occasions.

After judge Lord Kinclaven deferred sentence for the court to obtain a report on whether Stevenson’s offending meets the criteria needed for a life sentence, the he remained unrepentant.

As he left the dock, he started laughing loudly and shouted: “wahey!”

During proceedings, Stevenson’s victim told Mr Ferguson of she spent March 18 last year inspecting rental properties in Midlothian. She had no idea who Stevenson was.

The court heard the woman say that the meeting with Stevenson was initially uneventful.

But the female said in evidence that as she got up to leave, Mr Stevenson’s manner changed.

She said: “He grabbed me from behind by my neck. He told me that I wasn’t going anywhere.

“He said ‘shut up’ and ‘just be a good girl.’

“He said it would be all over in 10 minutes. He told me not to go for my phone.

“I was just shocked. I then said ‘please let me go. I’m pregnant. I need to go to the hospital. I have an appointment. I need to go. I need to go.

“He told me to shut up.”

The court heard that the woman pretended to be pregnant in a bid to be let go. However, she said that Stevenson refused to listen to her.

The woman said: “I said ‘please don’t hurt me. Please don’t hurt my baby.’ But he told me to shut up.”

The woman also said that Stevenson showed her a mirror.

She added: “I was shocked. I looked like a different person.”

The woman then managed to leave Stevenson’s house.

She added: “I was screaming ‘rape please help me.’ I got into my car. I heard somebody shout ‘get back.’

The woman said she drove to a nearby hospital and contacted police. Officers arrived and took her to be examined by a doctor.

Stevenson was arrested shortly afterwards.

Mr Ferguson told the court that Stevenson had a string of previous convictions for violence. He had been sentenced both in the sheriff court and at the high court.

He was jailed for six years in March 1998 at Edinburgh High Court for stabbing security guard Ronald Muir. Stevenson claimed to police that he had lost his temper because Mr Muir had propositioned him. Lord Kinclaven deferred sentence in order for the court to obtain reports about whether Stevenson should be given an order for lifelong restriction.

Such an order means that Stevenson would only be released once the parole board considers that he no longer poses a threat to public safety.

He will be sentenced at the High Court in Glasgow on April 7 2016.