Intruder who attacked woman in her Inverness flat jailed
- Published
Wayne Stewart was jailed at the High Court in Edinburgh
A man who entered a woman's home and attacked and robbed her has been jailed for four years.
The woman's screams alerted neighbours to the assault in her Inverness flat on 13 March last year, the High Court in Edinburgh heard.
Wayne Stewart, 42, was convicted in September of sexually assaulting his victim with intent to rape.
He was also found guilty of robbing the 21-year-old of her handbag, bank cards and other items.
Judge Lord Harrower told Stewart, of Inverness, he had subjected the woman to a "terrifying crime".
Jailing Stewart at the High Court in Edinburgh, the judge said: "You claimed that you were not trying to sexually assault her but you were trying to rob her.
"The jury were entitled to convict you of the crime that you acted with the intent to rape the complainer."
Lord Harrower said the attack had a "devastating psychological impact" on the woman, adding: "Given the gravity of the crime and the need to protect the public from you, there is no other alternative sentence to custody in these circumstances."
Stewart, currently a prisoner in HMP Inverness, had denied assaulting the woman with intent to rape her. He claimed he had been trying to rob her.
During proceedings earlier this year, jurors heard a recording of a 999 call the woman made to the police. The jurors heard her say: "He was trying rape me - to take advantage of me."
The court heard how the woman had gone to a shop for pasta and washing detergent and Stewart had followed her as she returned home and forced entry to her flat.
She said she struggled with her attacker, who was wearing a hoodie, but he was too strong. She said luckily neighbours had heard her.
Lord Harrower also placed Stewart on the sex offenders register.