The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Man imprisoned for two years for raping woman as she slept
Lawrence Angel was convicted last month following a six-day trial in Dunfermline
A man who sexually assaulted a woman while she slept and was unable to give consent has been jailed for two years.
Lawrence Angel, 32, attacked the female, who cannot be named for legal reasons, at his home in Dundee on November 1 2015.
Angel was convicted last month following a six-day trial at the High Court in Dunfermline.
He was acquitted on a charge which alleged that he raped a woman at an address in Dundee in July 2011.
At the High Court in Edinburgh yesterday judge Lord Woolman told Angel that he had no other option but to send him to prison.
He appeared in Edinburgh because sentence had been deferred for the court to obtain reports about his character.
Passing sentence, Lord Woolman said: “When you commenced this assault the victim was asleep and incapable of giving consent.
“When she awoke she froze when she realised what was happening.”
Moments earlier, defence advocate Jonathan Crowe told the court that his client had expressed remorse for his actions.
The court heard that Angel worked as a call centre worker in Dundee and had been accepted by the Open University to study for a degree with the institution.
Social workers who had assessed Angel had concluded he posed a “low or medium” risk of reoffending.
Mr Crowe added: “He has advised me to advance to the court that he now accepts that what he has done is wrong.
“He will never, ever, ever, ever indulge in the kind of such promiscuous sexual behaviour that has brought him to court.”
Passing sentence, Lord Woolman said he took into account the fact that Angel was a first offender and was assessed as presenting a low or medium risk of reoffending.
But he added that Angel’s actions had significant consequences for his victim and he considered that only a custodial disposal was appropriate.
Angel was also placed on the sex offenders register for 10 years.
When she awoke she froze when she realised what was happening. LORD WOOLMAN