Google MapsA man who raped a sleeping woman as his wife lay ill in the same flat has been jailed for five years.
Thomas West preyed on his sleeping victim at his flat in Saltcoats, Ayrshire, on July 11, 2019.
The 55-year-old was sentenced at the High Court in Glasgow on Tuesday.
West had denied the rape charge, but was convicted by a jury at a trial late last year.
Judge David Young QC told him: “You [and the woman] had sat in the living room.
“Your wife was also in the flat, but she was ill and largely confined to her bed.”
He said West went to commit a “predatory attack” on a woman who was “unable to give consent”.
The judge added: “She did not know what happened to her. When she asked, you denied anything happened.
“This is a grave sexual offence and the only appropriate sentence is custody.”
The court was told West had a previous high court conviction for assault and robbery.
It also emerged at the hearing that his wife has since passed away.
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