Fife man found guilty of raping woman at party

AFife man is facing a lengthy jail sentence after a jury found him guilty of raping a sleeping woman.

Lee Patrick, 24, had denied taking advantage of the woman while she was asleep, intoxicated through consumption of alcohol and drugs and incapable of giving consent.

Patrick, from Methil, was convicted of rape after the jury at the High Court in Livingston unanimously rejected his defence that he had not had sex with the victim.

He was remanded in custody and told his name would be added to the sex offenders register with immediate effect and that Scottish ministers would be informed of his conviction to bar him from working with vulnerable groups.

His victim said she had taken ecstasy and alcohol and passed out, drifting in and out of consciousness to find Patrick sexually assaulting and raping her.

During Patrick’s trial, the court heard evidence from another guest at the party who witnessed the accused having sex with the unconscious woman.

The woman, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, claimed she was “just tipsy” when she fell asleep on the sofa in the living room of a house in Leven after a night out.

She also admitted taking ecstasy at the party on October 13 2018.

The former hotel worker said she thought she was dreaming when she woke several times and realised what was happening.

She said she “froze”, initially.

She told the jury: “I tried to speak but couldn’t verbalise anything.

“I could open my mouth but couldn’t say anything.

“It felt like I had pins and needles all over my body and I was like a dead weight.”

She said she eventually gained a “surge of energy and snapped back into consciousness and attempted to get him off me”.

About a week later she disclosed in a note that she had been raped. It said: “He whispered something in my ear, that’s how I knew it was him.”

Judge Simon Collins called for background reports before sentence is passed at the High Court in Edinburgh on October 6.

He remanded Patrick in custody until then.

TRIAL: Lee Patrick has been found guilty of raping a woman in Fife.