Bonnybridge dad convicted of raping young woman

Gordon McFarlane was remanded in custody after a jury found him guilty of forcing the female into having sex with him without her consent overnight on December 8, 2019.

McFarlane, 58, was also convicted of sending his victim an indecent image of a couple performing oral sex on each between October 2020 and September 2021.

The prosecution said he sent the message for his own sexual gratification or to humiliate, distress or alarm the recipient.

McFarlane was earlier acquitted of a further allegation of sexually assaulting the same woman at a hotel in Fort William in September 2021 after the Crown withdrew the charge,

During his trial at the High Court in Livingston, the jury was told the accused had been drinking heavily before the rape.

His victim's friend told how the complainer had phoned her shortly after her ordeal crying and saying she couldn’t believe what had happened to her.

The victim, now aged 33, claimed she couldn’t tell her friend the details “because it was disgusting”. However, she immediately identified the accused as the perpetrator.

She later told how she had wakened to find McFarlane lying on top of her and he had penetrated her.

Giving evidence in his own defence, the accused claimed he had wakened to find someone giving him oral sex.

He claimed he thought it was his wife at first but then found out it was the woman he was accused of raping.

The jury rejected his claims and found him guilty of the two remaining charges.

Judge Fiona Tait revoked bail and remanded McFarlane, of Dunure Crescent in Bonnybridge, in custody.

She called for background reports and deferred sentence until April 23 at Edinburgh High Court.

She added McFarlane’s name to the sex offenders register with immediate effect and told him Scottish Ministers would be informed of his convictions under laws to protect vulnerable groups.