A rapist who claimed he could not come to court as he had lost his bus ticket has been jailed for three years.
Gordon McKay took advantage of a young woman while she was asleep at a house in Lochgelly in December 2020.
The 22 year-old should have stood trial in Livingston in January this year.
He had been on bail having been charged not long after the attack.
But his lawyer Colin Neilson told the High Court in Glasgow on Friday: “He said that he had been given a bus ticket by social work but had then lost it.
“After losing the ticket, he was trying to get money from friends but no one would help him.
“He basically gave up before police turned up and arrested him.”
‘Significant risk to females’
The carelessness prolonged the ordeal for his victim, with the trial eventually taking place in Livingston later in 2023.
McKay was convicted of rape and was sentenced by Judge Alistair Watson.
He had pled guilty to the failure to appear for trial, as well as stealing money and tobacco from the house where the sex attack occurred.
The judge told McKay: “You are assessed as a potentially significant risk to adult females.
“You appear to me to meet the test for an extended sentence.
“It occurred to me during the trial that you are an immature young man, who will inevitably continue to offend unless you accept appropriate support and intervention.
“Had you been a more mature individual, I would have imposed a significantly longer custodial term.”
Maintains innocence
McKay, of Lochgelly, will be supervised for a further three years on his release.
Jurors heard how the sex predator and the woman had only met days earlier.
McKay had carried on raping her even after she woke up because of what he was doing.
He had lodged a defence stating the woman had consented to sex and defence advocate Mr Neilson said: “His position remains the same as at trial in that he continues to deny his guilt.”
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