A man who sexually assaulted a woman in the toilets of Prohibition nightclub returned the very next night and tried to rape a woman he met at the same club.
Yassine Ladjici had been in Aberdeen visiting friends when he attended the Langstane Place nightspot and followed a woman into the toilets.
The 25-year-old leaned against the cubicle door and stopped her from leaving while repeatedly attempting to kiss her.
The following night Ladjici paid a return visit to Prohibition where he met another woman, who he went on to assault and attempt to rape in the city centre.
Ladjici had denied the allegations but was found guilty by a jury at the High Court in Aberdeen following a trial.
‘Do you think if I try to kiss women it’s hard for me?’
The incidents happened in the early hours of October 31, 2021 and the early hours of November 1, 2021.
During the trial, Ladjici took to the witness stand himself and claimed to have been “set up”.
But the jury of nine men and six women took less than two hours to reach a unanimous guilty verdict on the attempted rape charge and guilty by majority on the sexual assault charge.
Ladjici, whose address was given as Young Offenders Institute, Polmont, also pled guilty to attempting to pervert the course of justice by giving the police a false name and date of birth.
The court heard Ladjici, who is originally from Algeria, had been using the name Kaiss Letellier in the UK.
During questioning from defence counsel Colin Neilson, Ladjici told the court: “I’ve been in prison for 21 months. I’ve not been convicted of any crime. They tried to screw me.”
‘Yes I did put my hand over her mouth, but not to try and rape her’
Asked how the allegations had made him feel, Ladjici said: “I can’t explain. It’s a bad feeling.”
He sat down in the witness box and started to weep with his head in his hands.
Discussing the attempted rape incident, Ladjici said the woman invited him “for a walk” and they went to Bon Accord Square.
He said the pair kissed there and, when he asked if she wanted to have sex he claimed she said “yes yes yes”.
However, after he had put on protection, Ladjici said the woman “started to panic” and walked away.
‘It was an accident’
He added: “I think she got scared.”
Ladjici accepted that he had covered the woman’s mouth with his hand, stating: “When I put my hand over her mouth I lost my temper. I’m not proud of it and I pushed her.”
Mr Neilson told Ladjici that the woman said he had given the impression he was going to have sex with her and pinned her down on a set of steps.
He replied: “No. it’s not true.”
In cross-examination, advocate depute David Logan asked Ladjici about putting his hand over the woman’s mouth.
Ladjici replied: “Yes I did put my hand over her mouth, but not to try and rape her.
“It was to try and calm her down.”
Asked about the first incident in the toilets at Prohibition, Ladjici said: “It was an accident, I went into the female toilets.
“That’s absolutely disgusting, I shouldn’t be there but I didn’t touch anyone.
“I asked them if they will share with me some of the powder.
“They said to leave the area and that’s all that happened.”
He added: “Do you think if I try to kiss women it’s hard for me?”
Judge Graham Buchanan deferred sentence on Ladjici for background reports, but warned him: “It’s inevitable that, in due course, you will receive a significant sentence of imprisonment.”
He also made him subject to the notification requirements of the Sexual Offences Act.
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