ABERDEEN PREDATOR GRABBED WOMAN OFF STREET AND RAPED HER
A sex predator who pulled a young woman into a secluded area before raping her was jailed.Caitano Azavedo, 40, grabbed his victim by the hand before sexually assaulting her during the night-time attack in Aberdeen.
Portuguese national Azavedo had denied assaulting and raping the woman in King Street and at a field in Aberdeen Sports Village on October 22 2023 during a trial at the High Court in Edinburgh.
But a jury found him guilty of the crime during which he seized her hand, pulled her to a quiet area and molested her before subjecting her to a penetrative assault and rape.
Following the verdict, a judge was asked to continue bail for first offender Azavedo ahead of sentencing next month.
But judge Alistair Watson rejected the motion and remanded him in custody He told Azavedo: “You have been on bail until now.
Bail was granted to you on the presumption of innocence.
"The judge said: “That presumption has gone, We know now that you are guilty of this serious criminal offence and in those circumstances it would be inappropriate to allow you to remain at liberty.
”The court described the rape offence as “a very serious matter” involving “an attack and the rape of a young woman simply going about her evening in Aberdeen that night”.
The judge indicated there is “a very high likelihood that I will require to impose a lengthy period of imprisonment.
”He ordered a background report before sentencing at the High Court in Glasgow on January 9, to give a fuller picture of Azavedo’s background.
Azavedo, who followed proceedings via an interpreter, was placed on the sex offenders’ register.
