Rapist jailed for five years

A MAN has been jailed for five years for raping a drunken woman while she was asleep.

Amir Bakhjam, 38, met the woman and her boyfriend in Ashton Lane, before heading to Kushion Night Club in Bath Street with them.

When the 25-year-old woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, had a row with her boyfriend she went home with Bakhjam.

He claimed they had consensual sex, but the woman said that she woke up in his bed to find him “helping himself.”

Bakhjam, of Greenlaw Court, Yoker, was convicted at the High Court in Glasgow of raping the woman at his home on July 22, 2015.

He was found guilty of removing her clothing and raping her while she was heavily under the influence of alcohol, a drug or similar intoxicating substance and was unconscious or asleep and incapable of giving consent.

Passing sentence yesterday, judge Graeme Buchanan said: “You seek to avoid responsibility and to blame your victim for creating the circumstances which lead to events which resulted in your conviction.”

He added Bakhjam’s conduct was “totally unacceptable in the sense that it amounted to a serious sexual offence” and that he subjected his victim to a “distressing and humiliating ordeal”.

Bakhjam was also placed on the Sex Offenders’ register indefinitely.

In evidence, the woman told the court that she had drunk almost a full bottle of Prosecco, six rum and cokes, a cocktail and a number of Jammie Dodger shots.

The court heard that Bakhjam has a previous conviction for assault.

Defence counsel Louise Arrol gave the court a number of references and said: “They paint a picture of someone who is respectful, considerate, family orientated and an upstanding member of the community.”