A sex predator who raped a teenager after she went on a night out as pandemic lockdown restrictions eased has been jailed.
Mustafizur Rahman, 44, attacked the girl in the rear of his car after she thought she was getting into a taxi after drinking reports the Daily Record.
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Rahman had denied raping the teenager during a trial at the High Court in Edinburgh but was found guilty of the offence during which he removed her lower clothing in the sex attack on the victim, who was a complete stranger to him.
He had claimed that she went into the back seat and took off her trousers and pants and invited him to perform oral sex on her and have intercourse.
But the victim said: "I remember him taking my trousers down to below my knees. I was telling him to stop."
The court heard that the distraught teenager went to a house in Kelty, in Fife, seeking help after the sex attack in the town's Keltyhill Avenue on July 6 in 2020.
Police launched an investigation to gather in CCTV from the town to try to piece together events and began to trace owners of dark coloured Vauxhall Vectra cars - a vehicle that was seen in footage.
A Vectra with a tow bar, which was a significant feature from CCTV film, was seen in a street in Dunfermline, in Fife, and Rahman was found to be the owner. He gave officers a statement and provided a DNA sample.
The court heard that the teenager was out drinking on the first day pubs had reopened after lockdown following her turning 18 during the pandemic shutdown.
She was seen leaving a bar in Kelty with others before walking on her own in the town's Main Street. A detective who viewed the footage said she appeared to be "zigzagging" across the footpath before entering the car.
After the sex attack, the vulnerable teenager made her way to a house in a hysterical state seeking help. A couple found her crying and very distressed.
Advocate depute Eric Robertson told jurors: "What the Crown says is that is supportive of her evidence that she did not consent to the sexual conduct that the accused had with her."
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The prosecutor said that when all the facts and circumstances were looked at there was a compelling case for accepting the woman's account of events.
Rahman, of Ballingry Crescent, Ballingry, in Fife, was placed on the sex offenders' register following the jury's guilty verdict.
The trial judge, Lord Young, remanded him in custody for the preparation of a background report ahead of sentencing next month. He had been on bail during his trial.
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