An Abertay forensics student planted unwanted kisses on a woman at the university, before sexually assaulting her after a night out days later.
Paul Sherriffs was found guilty of both sexual assaults following a trial at Dundee Sheriff Court.
After kissing the woman on the university campus in 2020 against her will, Sherriffs again struck in a city flat, placing his hands inside the woman’s underwear while she was drunk.
Now on the sex offenders register, Sherriffs will be sentenced in the new year after meeting with social workers.
Dundee Sheriff Court heard claims Sherriffs kissed the woman on the lips without her consent during an incident at Abertay University in February 2020.
The woman knew Sherriffs and was later on a night out with him at The Counting House pub in the city centre.
The court heard Sherriffs placed his hand on the woman’s knee and messaged him to stop, which she said he did, before he asked if he could walk her home.
While the pair were on King Street in Dundee the woman said drunken Sherriffs sexually assaulted her.
Giving evidence via video link, she said: “What happened was wrong, it was non-consensual.
“I didn’t want it to happen. I felt violated. It was so wrong.”
She described pushing Sherriffs, with both of them falling and bruising their knees.
However, the woman allowed Sherriffs to continue walking her home where, she said, he tried to enter her flat without permission.
Accused’s ‘apology’
Sherriffs later sent a text message apologising, with the woman telling him what happened was “not okay”.
Sherriffs wrote: “For what it’s worth, I am truly sorry about last night.
“What happened last night was never my intention and I should not have gotten so drunk that I wasn’t in control.
“It can’t and won’t ever happen again.”
The woman believed this was an “acknowledgement of what happened” and “like it was wrong”.
Another of Sherriffs’ messages read: “I’m so incredibly sorry. You must hate me – I hate me too. I’m so sorry.
“I’m so sorry my actions led to this.”
However, in the witness box, Sherriffs said this apology was purely for engaging in an act of infidelity.
“I knew she was dating this other guy,” he said.
Follow-up text angered victim
Sherriffs later wrote: “Feel free to tell me to f*** off but can I ask a question about last night?
“I wasn’t going to ask but my insecurities are getting the better of me. Was I any good at it?
“I was just wondering if I was okay at some of the stuff as I have never done it before.”
The woman responded: “I barely remember anything I just remember wanting it to stop.”
“We didn’t do anything really, you did stuff. I was so drunk I could barely stand.
“I wasn’t up for anything.”
The woman said she was “angry” after receiving the message and believed Sherriffs was “trying to dismiss the severity” of what occurred.
Avoided accused
She tried to avoid contact with Sherriffs, aided by the Covid-19 lockdown.
The woman told prosecutor Carrie-Anne Mackenzie she endured panic attacks and anxiety and required counselling.
Abertay University was informed in the summer of 2021 and the police contacted later.
The woman agreed when Mrs Mackenzie asked if the reason she delayed informing the authorities was because she wanted to wait until she was ready.
Defence counsel Lewis Kennedy questioned why the woman did not speak out or walk away immediately Sheriffs touched her in the pub.
She said she did not want to embarrass him in front of his friends.
Mr Kennedy suggested their bruised knees were caused by drunkenly falling.
“It was something involving drunken clumsiness and not attempted seduction – is that not what happened?”
The woman said: “No it’s not.”
Earlier, it was put to her what actually happened was a short period of consensual intimacy at her flat before she told Sherriffs to stop, which he did.
She responded: “That’s false. Nothing happened inside my flat.”
Convicted
29-year-old Sherriffs, of Forebank Road in Dundee, was convicted of sexually assaulting the woman on two occasions on February 17 in 2020.
Sheriff John Rafferty placed him on the sex offenders register and deferred sentencing until January 21 for reports.
The sheriff said he found Sherriffs’ evidence “given the context, not to be believable.”
The sheriff found allegations of an earlier sexual assault at the university and the alleged sexual assault at Wetherspoons in Dundee to be not proven.
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