A predator who pounced on a drunk girl in a Dundee alleyway, intending to rape her, has been locked up.
Gabrial Tsvetanov’s terrified victim screamed as he repeatedly pulled at her and groped her during the incident in the early hours of the morning in the city centre.
The city’s sheriff court heard Tsvetanov drank a litre of vodka before carrying out his attack.
Two weeks earlier the creep had performed a sex act in public, to the horror of residents and passers-by on Union Street.
Remanded after shocking attack
Tsvetanov denied sexually assaulting the woman – a stranger – with the intent of raping her but admitted hugging her and grabbing her bottom.
However, a jury did not believe his version of events and took around 20 minutes to find him guilty.
Sheriff Tim Niven-Smith told the Bulgarian national, who worked at the Tony Macaroni restaurant, he was revoking bail pending sentencing in August.
The sheriff said: “A jury of your peers have convicted you of a serious sexual offence for which punishment, retribution and deterrence lead me to the conclusion that the imposition of a period of imprisonment is inevitable.
“If you are to remain in this country, I consider you may present a danger to the public and that the ordinary period of time that you would be released on licence following any custodial sentence would be inadequate to protect the public, and in particular young females, from your deviant, sexual behaviour.
“Standing the fact I consider you are a high risk to the public and you are a potential flight risk, being a non-British national and given you have now lost the shield of the presumption of innocence, your bail previously granted will be withdrawn.”
Rape fears
It was revealed in trial evidence the woman and her friend had been drinking in the city centre earlier in the night.
The woman initially believed Tsvetanov was someone she knew but after he pounced, said she was “mostly screaming” as she “tried to swipe his hand away”.
Tsvetanov continued in his attack at Yeaman Shore, while the woman’s friend told him to “f*** off”.
Jurors heard claims Tsvetanov said something along the lines of “I’m going to f*** you”.
The woman, who cannot be named, said in her evidence: “I thought he was going to pull me down an alleyway and rape me.”
On August 3 2021, Tsvetanov committed an act of public indecency by exposing himself and performing a sex act.
Fiscal depute Joanne Ritchie said in her speech to jurors: “I would invite you to reject the accused’s position that all he did was hug and touch her bottom.
“The Crown submit that this was an escalation of behaviour from August 3 2021, where in the early hours of August 16 2021, the accused has become bolder and more aggressive.
“He has come across the complainer, a woman on a night out with friends minding her own business when in a vulnerable state of intoxication down an alleyway and he approached her aggressively like a predator.”
Guilty
Solicitor advocate Brian Bell highlighted elements of evidence he believed would have given the jury reasonable doubts.
He pointed out the vastly differing account from the woman’s friend in her initial statement to the police compared to during the trial.
An expert witness told the court no DNA profile of Tsvetanov was found on swabs taken from the woman.
However, the jury found Tsvetanov guilty by a majority verdict of sexually assaulting the woman by seizing her clothing and pulling her towards him on August 16 2021 within an alleyway outside Mecca Bingo’s customer car park at Yeaman Shore.
He placed his hands underneath her clothing, touched her breasts, tried to pull her skirt down and placed his hands under it with the intent of raping her.
The court heard how in October 2023, Tsvetanov was placed on the sex offenders register for three years after admitting a charge relating to photographing women without their consent.
Mr Bell acknowledged Tsvetanov was assessed in a social work report at the time as being a “high-risk” of committing further sexual offences.
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