‘I thought he was going to mug me’

A WOMAN has told a court how she screamed for help after a man tried to rape her in a Dundee close.

Gigi Ciriblan, 37, is standing trial accused of carrying out a series of sex attacks in Dundee over an eight-day period in August 2016.

The woman — who can’t be identified for legal reasons — told the High Court in Dunfermline how she felt she was being followed by a man in Morgan Street, before he pushed her to the ground and tried to rape her.

She said: “I was walking and he was behind me. To be honest, I thought he was going to mug me. I thought he wanted my money.”

The woman said Ciriblan started speaking to her but she couldn’t understand what he was saying as he was talking in a different language.

She added: “He ushered me into a close. He pushed me to the ground. I landed backwards and I banged my head.

“His knee was on my chest. I was trying to get him off me but I couldn’t.” She said her attacker tried to sexually assault her and then attempted to rape her while she shouted and screamed for help.

She said a woman in t he close saw what was happening and at that point her attacker ran away.

A photo of the victim was then shown to the court, taken several days after the attack, appearing to show bruising on her chest, as well as on her right arm.

CCTV footage was then shown from Morgan Street at the time of the alleged attack on the night of August 30, 2016, showing Ciriblan and the woman walking side-by-side along the street.

Ciriblan went out of the shot towards a close and the woman followed him.

The woman said it was at this stage that she was attacked.

Minutes later, the woman could be seen coming back into the street and smoking a cigarette — which she brought up to her face several times.

Advocate depute Stephen McCloy said: “Why was your hand up at your eyes?” She replied: “Because I was crying.” Matt Jackson, defence counsel for Ciriblan, accused the witness of lying to the court. He said: “I suggest to you what happened in that close was that you cuddled and nothing more than that.”

The woman said: “No, I’m afraid not. Why would you go into a close for a cuddle?”

Ciriblan denies all the charges against him. The trial continues.

WARD 32 at Ninewells Hospital in Dundee received an £800 donation in memory of Forfar man Bob Pirie. Bob’s daughter Ashleigh said: “Sadly our dad passed away in May but we collected money at his funeral to donate to Ward 32. The nurses and doctors...