A Fife man has been found guilty of raping an unconscious woman he injected with heroin after his victim gave evidence from beyond the grave.
Jurors heard how the woman woke in hospital after being injected with heroin to learn Ruaridgh Blair had had sex with her while she was unconscious in Fife on August 4 2020.
She gave evidence to police before she died in July 2021.
The High Court in Dundee heard how she had gone to Blair’s drugs den in Leven’s Beurard area to take heroin with him and had injected the drug for the first time.
She suffered an overdose and Blair took advantage to strip and rape her, before trying to prevent police getting into his flat to rescue her.
Blair was remanded for the preparation of pre-sentence reports after the jury found him guilty by a majority of rape.
Evidence from beyond the grave
On the trial’s first day this week, jurors heard from a detective who read aloud the statement the victim gave after waking at Victoria Hospital in Kirkcaldy the day after being raped.
She told police: “I looked at my phone. There was a message from Ruaridgh.
“The message said ‘Out of order. I spent last on you so you could jag but you were going to rob my vallies and bounce away’.”
It continued: “Not this time. Sex was the worst, you gouched out halfway into it. Nice try, I’m smarter than that’.”
The statement said the woman replied: “You took advantage of me, you raped me”.
She said there was no reply.
The court heard “gouched out” meant passed out after taking drugs.
‘I’ve got goodies’
The woman told police she was in a relationship and was in no way attracted to Blair.
She visited his flat after being invited in a message from him to “get smashed, I’ve got goodies.”
He went on to send: “No rules apply, you can do what you want here. No one will know.”
She told police she got a taxi from Cupar to Leven, where Blair joined her in the car and they went to pick up drugs before returning to his flat.
In her statement, she said Blair had given her six pills in a Kinder Egg and she had taken them before “chasing the dragon” – smoking heroin – together.
“I just remember being away with it,” she said.
First time injecting heroin
In her statement, she said the pair were chatting and Blair was playing music on his phone.
She said the last thing she remembered was Blair injecting a needle of black liquid into her right arm.
She said this had been consensual but it was the first time she had ever injected heroin.
However, she said: “There is no way I would have consented to anything in a sexual way with him.”
Rescue by boyfriend
The trial later heard Blair tried to stop the police and the woman’s boyfriend from helping.
The man was so concerned about his partner’s welfare he lied to police to force them to storm Blair’s drug den.
He said the police forgave him for setting them up as his actions had probably saved her life after she called him to pick her up after the drugs binge with Blair.
He said Blair denied having any knowledge of the woman and then leaned out of his window, topless and hurled abuse at him as he left.
The 24-year-old said: “I just felt sick to the stomach because I had a gut feeling she was there.
“I was very worried. I called the police.
“I told them I was a bystander and told them there was a girl leaning out the window saying he wouldn’t let her leave.
“The way I said it, I knew they would have to enter.
“The police told me that they were aware I wasn’t who I said I was and that if I hadn’t called when I did, then (the complainer) would be dead.”
Blocked police
PC Duncan Shand, 46, said Blair refused to let officers into the property for several minutes, until they warned they would kick the door down.
PC Craig Thomson, 32, said they found the victim in just her bra, unconscious and unresponsive.
Paramedics gave her a double shot of Narcan to revive her.
Blair, 30, had denied other charges including supplying diamorphine and diazepam to his victim.
The Crown did not seek convictions on the other charges.
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