A forensics student who carried out a drunken attack on a woman in Dundee has been put on the sex offenders register for five years.
Paul Sherriffs targeted the woman at Abertay University before pouncing on her days later during a night out.
Sherriffs denied the charges against him but was found guilty after standing trial at Dundee Sheriff Court.
The 29-year-old was convicted of kissing the woman on campus in 2020 against her will before he placed his hands inside the woman’s underwear while she was drunk at a city flat.
Sheriff John Rafferty hailed the victim’s courage, describing her as “gentle, kind and thoughtful”.
Drunken attacks
The court heard how Sherriffs was on King Street with the woman before an alcohol-fuelled sex attack.
Giving evidence via video link, the victim 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.
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”.
Creepy questions
Another of Sherriffs’ messages read: “I’m so incredibly sorry. You must hate me – I hate me too. I’m so sorry.”
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.
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.
Suspended immediately
Sherriffs, of Forebank Road in Dundee, was convicted of sexually assaulting the woman on two occasions on February 17 2020.
Defence counsel Lewis Kennedy said his client had been assessed by social workers and those involved with the Tay Project for sex offenders as being a “moderate-to-low” risk of reoffending.
“He was immediately suspended by the university authorities and lost his position as a part-time teaching fellow.
“Mr Sherriffs completed his doctorate all while under the strain of these proceedings and graduated last summer.
“This conviction will be an impediment to to securing any academic appointments in the UK.
“With his lack of intimate relationships and relatively sheltered life, he might be described as something of an incompetent suitor.
“Mr Sherriffs accepts this is a very serious matter.”
Sentencing
In sentencing, Sheriff Rafferty said: “(The victim) did not wish to entertain any ill-will towards you, quite the contrary.
“It was only after considerable thought that she found it necessary to report you to the authorities and she did so to a significant extent to afford protection to others that might have been in the same position she was.
“There are undoubtedly those with understandable reason who consider that only a custodial sentence is appropriate in this case.”
However, the sheriff said he could step back from a jail term due to Sherriffs’ previously “unblemished” character and the community-based alternatives available.
Sherriffs was ordered to perform 225 hours of unpaid work as an alternative to custody.
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