Central Scotland News AgencyA Scottish DJ who raped a woman then “found God” and confessed on YouTube has been jailed for six years.
Craig Strachan, stage name “Craig Saint”, had sex with the woman in a basement flat in Edinburgh in 2013 when she was sleeping and incapable of giving or withholding consent.
He admitted to the crime in a video on YouTube channel I’mpossible Conversation in 2022, in which he said he had a “spiritual awakening” and was reminded that he had “raped a girl” when he was 21.
He said: “I had sex with her when she was sleeping. It lasted about ten seconds. She was in my bed and as soon as it happened I instantly knew, ‘s**t, I should not have done that’.”
Police investigated, but despite his online admission Strachan, now 33, pleaded not guilty to rape.
His victim, now 32, gave evidence at a High Court trial in July 2024, at which he claimed he thought she had in fact been awake and consenting.
Jurors took less than an hour to find him guilty.
Central Scotland News AgencyHe was convicted of entering a bed uninvited with the woman, touching her on the body, and raping her both while she was asleep and incapable of giving or withholding consent and after she awoke.
The verdict was unanimous.
Imposing the six-year sentence at the High Court in Stirling on Tuesday, Judge Fiona Tait told Strachan, who appeared by video link from Saughton Prison, Edinburgh, that the offence was one of “considerable gravity”, resulting in a substantial impact on his victim.
Judge Tait said: “She should be commended for her courage in giving evidence – especially in the difficult circumstances of the publicity which your online disclosure attracted.”
Strachan was placed on the sex offenders’ register for life and made subject to a non-harassment order banning him from approaching or contacting his victim for 20 years.
She said that the non-harassment order was necessary despite the fact that the offence dated back to 2013, because Strachan had made contact with his victim more recently, “in circumstances which prompted the present proceedings”.
He expressed no emotion as sentence was passed.
Defence advocate Alistair Sloan said Strachan “is aware this is clearly a serious offence”.
The court heard earlier that Strachan had been freed on bail after he appeared in court on the rape charge for the first time in March 2022.
However, his bail was revoked after he failed to appear for trial in March this year and he was remanded in custody pending his eventual trial after eventually turning up at court in April.
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