Man cleared of rape but jailed for not showing up

31-year-old chose Ibiza over his appearance in court

A man who preferred Ibiza to appearing in court on a rape charge has been cleared of the sexual assault but jailed for his failure to be at court.

Alexander McKinlay, 31, was supposed to appear at the High Court in Glasgow for a procedural hearing into an allegation he raped a 19-year-old girl in Doune in November 2016.

However the High Court in Edinburgh heard the labourer chose to ignore the August 2018 proceedings to go to the Spanish island.

Police launched an international manhunt and they located McKinlay living it up on the med.

Eventually McKinlay, of Doune, was extradited back to Scotland and he spent four days on trial in Edinburgh.

McKinlay denied any wrongdoing. Jurors cleared him of rape but convicted him on a separate charge of failing to appear in court for a procedural hearing.

Prosecution lawyer Jim Keegan told the court McKinlay ignored a legal order which compelled him to attend all court hearings in court.

Police Scotland were diverted from fighting Scottish crime to get on a plane so they could bring McKinlay back to face justice in his home country.

Defence advocate Drew McKenzie said the accused went to Ibiza in March 2018 to “seek work”.

Judge Lord Uist told McKinlay failing to appear in the High Court was a “serious” offence and custody was the only option available to him.

Jailing McKinlay for three years, he said: “You have been convicted by the jury of failing to turn up at the preliminary hearing in your case at Glasgow High Court on August 17 2018.

“You went off to Spain and failed to appear in court on that date. This delayed your trial and involved considerable public expense in having you brought back from Spain after a warrant had been granted.”

This delayed your trial and involved considerable public expense.

JUDGE LORD UIST

Rape accused Alexander McKinlay failed to turn up at the High Court in Glasgow.