SUPERMARKET WORKER ADMITS ATTEMPTED RAPE OF DUNFERMLINE SCHOOLGIRL
2011: Former supermarket worker Ryan Sutherland, 30, who dragged a 16-year-old girl into woods before attempting to rape her, had his punishment part reduced from 50 Months to 36 Months.July 2010: A SUPERMARKET worker tried to rape a schoolgirl near a Dunfermline playpark then cried and told her, "I am sorry", a court heard today.
Ryan Sutherland (29), of Nith Street, had tailed the 16-year-old as she walked home in April this year after a day out with her boyfriend in Dunfermline.
He forced her into a quiet wooded area off Mill Street before carrying out a sickening sex attack on the terrified teenager.
He had previously served time for abducting and robbing a female taxi driver at knifepoint in 2004.
He now faces another lengthy spell behind bars when he is sentenced in October.
The court heard how the victim had been out with friends in Dunfermline on the afternoon of 25th April.
Around 10pm, she headed to the bus station with her boyfriend to make their respective journeys home.
The young man got his bus, but when the girl's did not arrive, she decided to walk.
As she walked in Mill Street, she was suddenly approached from behind by Sutherland, who she did not know.
Miss Di Rollo told the court that he put his hand over her mouth, gripped her arm and ordered her not to say anything.
Sutherland then forced the girl to go with him into a wooded area at a nearby park.
He asked her age and the girl told him she was 16.
When they arrived he kissed the teenager and ordered her to carry out a sex act.
He then told her to lie down and he pulled her trousers down to her knees.
She decided not to struggle for fear of getting hurt and in the hope that the attack would be over quickly." Sutherland tried to have sex with the girl before moving away crying.
He told his victim, "I'm sorry - I cannot believe I have just done that." Sutherland said he would leave first and that the girl was to wait a couple of minutes.
After he had gone, the teenager noticed a missed call from her dad.
She replied with a text stating, "Sorry, need to talk to you when I get in".
When she got home, her mum noticed she was crying, shaking and that her clothes were dirty.
Police were contacted and, on a later check on CCTV, a male matching Sutherland's description was seen following the victim as she walked off from the bus station.
He was arrested on 3rd May after his DNA had been found on the girl.
The court was told Sutherland had been jailed for nine months in 2004 for a violent attack on a female cabbie.
Miss Di Rollo asked for a risk assessment to be made on Sutherland prior to sentencing.
She said given the nature of the offending Sutherland could "seriously endanger" the lives of the public in the future.
Judge Lady Stacey agreed to the request and deferred sentencing until 22nd October at the High Court in Edinburgh.
