A man has gone on trial accused of raping a woman in Aberdeen’s Union Terrace Gardens.
Daniel Sangster is accused of assaulting and raping the woman on March 27 2016.
The 29-year-old, of the city’s Gaitside Drive, denies the allegation.
His alleged victim, who cannot be named for legal reasons, gave evidence via a video link.
She said she had been left “distraught” after an ordeal she claimed began when she met Sangster in a city nightclub.
The court was told the pair had met on March 26 at the former Priory nightclub before deciding to share a taxi home at around 3am on March 27.
The woman, now in her 30s, said they had taken a detour through Union Terrace Gardens where she claims Sangster sexually assaulted her.
“He put my hands behind my back,” she said. “I asked what he was doing and I’m sure I asked him to stop. It lasted between 30 and 40 seconds, until I screamed for help and he ran away. I then tried to get out of the gardens as quickly as possible.”
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The woman met friends at the taxi rank before calling a pal to give her a lift home where she called the police.
Advocate depute Margaret Barron, prosecuting, asked the woman if she had wanted to have sex that night. The woman replied: “No”.
Ms Barron asked: “On your way back did you speak to anyone?”
The woman explained she had confided in an acquaintance on Belmont Street. She said: “I was shaking and crying. I felt disgusted and horrible.”
Sangster’s counsel, solicitor-advocate Chris Fyffe, questioned the woman on her motives, suggesting the pair had been “flirting” on their exit from the club.
She said they “could have been” but that while he was “a good looking man” she was just out of a lengthy relationship and “not looking for anything”.
Mr Fyffe suggested to her she had gone to Union Terrace Gardens with the intention of having sexual intercourse and that Sangster rejected her advances, before calling her a “nasty word” and leaving. She dismissed that suggestion.
The trial before Lord Alan Turnbull and a jury continues.
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