Glasgow Man Jailed for Attempted Male Rape
DNA evidence helped cinch the case against a Glasgow man found guilty of attempting to rape an openly gay victim.
The two men had been at a party on the night of the alleged rape attempt in January, 2007, reported a BBC News article posted Aug. 18. Both men had been drinking.
The 25-year-old victim, who was not identified, said that he had fallen asleep with his clothes on.
But later that night, he said, he woke up to find himself naked, with Derek Barrett, 34, in bed with him.
The victim said that he told Barrett to quit touching him, but that Barrett only became more insistent. The victim tussled with Barrett and then leapt out of bed and ran naked from the house.
The victim, the article reported, made his way to the home of a friend who lived a mile distant from the scene of the attempted rape.
Barrett initially claimed that the allegations were false. DNA evidence convinced the court otherwise, however, as did the testimony of the victim.
The judge in the case, Mark Stewart, was quoted as saying, "It was clear from the evidence the events had a profound effect on the complainer.
"This was a matter which caused him the most severe distress," the judge added.
Male rape is much less common than female rape, but this may be in part due to under-reporting. Male victims are thought to be less willing than women to come forward.
The first case of male rape to be prosecuted in Britain only took place in 1995, according to an article on the subject at Wikipedia.
Barrett was sentenced to two and a half years and required to register as a sex offender, the article said.
