Rapist, battered with ironing board, jailed for 6 years

Richard Smith had sex with the victim who went “ballistic” when she realised what was happening to her and battered him with an ironing board.

Smith, 27, had denied raping the the 30-year-old during the incident on August 2 in 2014 at a flat in the Dalry area of Edinburgh, but was found guilty at an earlier trial.

A judge told him at the High Court in Edinburgh: “It would be wholly wrong for me even to contemplate not imprisoning you for a significant period for the crime of rape.”

Lord McEwan said that he had read references provided for Smith which were “in glowing terms”.

The judge said: “There is a lot of mitigation about you, but there is very little mitigation about the crime.

Smith was convicted of climbing into bed beside the woman and while she was asleep and under the influence of alcohol pulling down her pants and molesting and raping her.

His trial heard that he was part of a group that had returned to the flat after a night out at the Lulu club in Edinburgh, where he had worked as a barman at the time.

After arriving at the flat he had continued drinking and was demonstrating magic tricks.

He later went to a bedroom where the woman was already sleeping. One witness said “screaming and shouting” came from the room.

She said: “When the door was opened, Richard seemed to be cowering in the corner and she was battering him with an ironing board.”

The court heard that the victim was “hysterical” and screaming: “Get out, get out.”

The attacker appeared “quite chilled” and went back to bed and police had to rouse him to waken him when they attended at the flat that morning.

Defence counsel Frank Gallagher said that Smith “steadfastly maintains his innocence”.

“He is a young professional man who has never been in trouble before with the authorities,” he told the court.

Mr Gallagher said that Smith fully appreciated that the judge had no alternative but to impose a custodial sentence following the conviction.

The defence counsel asked Lord McEwan to show as much leniency as he could commensurate with his public duty.

Lord McEwan told Smith: “A jury at Glasgow convicted you of substantially all of the charge in this case and I have to respect that verdict.”

Smith was placed on the sex offenders’ register.

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