Rapist jailed for four years

A call centre worker who raped a sleeping woman was jailed for four years.

Derek Thomson, 52, of Back Road, Shotts, raped his victim on various occasions between 2005 and 2009 at a house in Harthill.

When confronted with what he had done, Thomson told police:“I don’t know what she classed as rape. I touched her sometimes when she was asleep.”

His victim confronted him about what he had done in a text message and then contacted the police.

At the High Court in Glasgow last Tuesday, Thomson, who has multiple sclerosis, also admitted putting a photograph of a naked woman on the internet in 2001.

He claimed he did so because the woman had put on weight and he wanted to prove to her that she was still attractive to men. She did not realise the picture had been taken and when she saw it on the internet demanded he removed it.

Thomson also admitted having indecent photographs of children and one photograph of bestiality in 2015.

Solicitor advocate Murray Macara said:“Mr Thomson tells me he has no interest in bestiality or paedophilia and only had a small number of images involved. He had discussions with a friend about bestiality and out of curiosity he entered the word into his mobile phone and the image came up.”

Judge Tom Hughes ordered Thomson to be monitored in the community for a year after his release from prison.

He was placed on the sex offenders’register.