A man who raped a vulnerable schoolgirl after she asked him to buy cigarettes has been jailed for seven years.
Daniel Cunningham met the underage girl at a shop and got her to go with him, picking her up and carrying her when she refused to go any further.
The 23-year-old subjected the girl to a rape ordeal at a wooded area in Hamilton, South Lanarkshire, on July 13 in 2019.
A judge told him at the High Court in Edinburgh: “Your criminal conduct was both opportunistic and predatory in its nature.”
Lord Arthurson pointed out that the victim was aged 14 at the time and was in a “vulnerable state” when Cunningham met her.
The judge said the crime was “appalling and callous” and its grave nature merited a substantial custodial sentence.
Cunningham, formerly of Douglas Street, Carluke, in South Lanarkshire, had earlier denied the rape but was found guilty after a trial.
Defence counsel Tony Graham QC said Cunningham was “an unextraordinary man with an unextraordinary background”. He said: “That with which he was convicted sits rather incongruously with his background.”
Mr Graham said Cunningham had a good employment history and was working as a self employed joiner before the pandemic.
Cunningham, who followed the sentencing proceedings via a video link to the court, was placed on the sex offenders’ register indefinitely.
Follow STV News on WhatsApp
Scan the QR code on your mobile device for all the latest news from around the country
