Tuesday, October 15, 2024 - A DJ who confessed to r@pe on a YouTube video before claiming to have 'found God' has been jailed.
Craig Strachan was accused of climbing into his victim's bed
and raping her at a basement flat in Edinburgh in 2013, when he
was 21.
The now 33-year-old, who used the stage name 'Craig Saint',
was today convicted by a jury at the High Court in Livingston and sentenced to
six years' imprisonment.
Despite pleading not guilty to the crime in July,
Strachan previously admitted he 'totally f***** up and raped a girl' when he
was on drugs in a resurfaced Youtube video posted in 2022.
He went on to tell the 'I'mpossible Conversation' YouTube
channel during an interview: 'When I had my spiritual awakening last year it
was so so scary because I was reminded of something that happened when I was
21, when I was really high and totally f****d up, I raped a girl.
'I had sex with her when she was sleeping. It lasted about
10 seconds. She was in my bed and as soon as it happened, I instantly knew,
"s***, I should not have done that".'
The trial heard Strachan was 21 when he climbed into his
victim’s bed uninvited and touched her while she slept, prosecutors said. When
she woke, Strachan raped her.
He claimed he thought she had in fact been awake and
consenting. Jurors took less than an hour to find him guilty.
He was convicted of entering a bed uninvited with the woman,
touching her on the body, and raping her both while she was asleep and
incapable of giving or withholding consent and after she awoke.
The verdict was unanimous.
Imposing the six-year sentence at the High Court in
Stirling, Judge Fiona Tait told Strachan, who appeared by video link from
Saughton Prison, Edinburgh, that the offence was one of 'considerable gravity',
resulting in a substantial impact on his victim.
She added: 'She should be commended for her courage in
giving evidence - especially in the difficult circumstances of the publicity
which your online disclosure attracted.'
Strachan was placed on the sex offenders register for life
and made subject to a non-harassment order banning him from approaching or
contacting his victim for 20 years.
The judge said that the non-harassment order was necessary
despite the fact that the offence dated back to 2013, because Strachan had made
contact with his victim more recently 'in circumstances which prompted the
present proceedings'.
He expressed no emotion as sentence was passed.
During his three-day trial, jurors were shown a series of
Facebook messages, including one that the woman had sent him immediately after
the incident in which she bluntly stated: 'You f*****g raped me.' In Strachan's
police interview he told a detective: 'I shouldn't have done it. Either way,
she was sleeping and it was wrong.'
Defence advocate Alistair Sloan said Strachan 'is aware this
is clearly a serious offence'.
During the incriminatory YouTube conversation, Strachan
smiled and giggled, saying that he had forgiven himself after 'finding God'.
He said: 'I did admit to this and I also got in contact with
the girl and her family to apologise for the situation.
'That's why I created The Forgiveness Movement - to help
people who are afraid to speak up about their wrongs and give them help with
how to seek forgiveness and forgive themselves.'
He added: 'I don't believe that someone should have to spend
a lifetime carrying their mistake if they have done everything in their power
to fix the situation.
'I felt so guilty. I kept feeling these feelings of guilt
and shame for months afterwards. I really hope the girl forgives me one day. I
was comparing myself to all these bad people when in actual fact I made a
horrific mistake.'
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