A “predatory” rapist who targeted vulnerable men and attacked them while they were incapacitated has been convicted at the High Court in Inverness.
Gavin Shand befriended his victims then took advantage of them for his own sexual gratification, telling one afterwards: “I know you wanted it”.
One man was sleeping at the time of his rape, while Shand injected the other with a drug that rendered him unconscious before sexually assaulting and raping him.
Shand, 45, was found guilty of one count of rape and one of sexual assault and rape at the High Court in Inverness.
He was also convicted on charges of directing a sexual verbal communication towards the first of his victims and engaging in sexual activity in his presence as well as attempting to defeat the ends of justice by offering his second victim money and drugs to keep quiet.
In a case set out by advocate depute Lindsey Dalziel, the jury saw recorded evidence from both victims, one of whom was targeted at an address in Inverness on dates in 2021 and 2022.
The second man was attacked in what he described as “a junkie den” in Glasgow in August of 2022.
The court heard that Shand had preyed on the weaknesses of the men – offering to make shopping trips and bring alcohol to one and agreeing to help the other inject heroin.
One of the victims, in his 60s, told a carer who visited him at home that on one occasion he had woken to find Shand raping him.
In a recording that was played to the jury, he said: “When I woke [he] was having sex with me.”
Rapist: ‘I know you wanted it’
He said Shand told him: “I know you wanted it.”
The jury heard a concerned family member had set up CCTV in the victim’s home after Shand walked in unannounced during a visit.
On one occasion the camera had captured Shand walking into the room apparently performing a sex act on himself as his victim sat nearby.
The CCTV was not recording at the time of the rape, nor did it capture an incident that the man described where he had emerged from the bathroom to find Shand in the living room with his genitals exposed, requesting he perform a sex act on him.
Taking to the witnesses box in his own defence Shand admitted that he was “taking advantage” of his victim’s hospitality at that time but denied any sexual offences.
The second victim, in his 30s, described “a chance meeting” with Shand as he bought drugs in Glasgow.
He said Shand was looking for somewhere to use drugs, while he needed someone to help him get his fix.
“I thought I was lucky at the time,” the man said, revealing he had offered to take Shand to what he described as a “junkie den” in return for help getting high.
The man described how he had fallen unconscious immediately after being injected by Shand and had woken to find Shand performing a sex act on him.
‘Used’ by ‘beastie b******’
The man told the court he had called Shand a “beastie b******” and said: “I tried to push him back off me, he started crying and apologising.”
He said Shand had claimed he was “horny when he was on cocaine but his wife left him”.
The victim described how Shand had promised him money and drugs to keep quiet about the rape – an arrangement he said he had initially agreed to due to his situation.
But when they went to buy the drugs, Shand ran off laughing and saying “ha ha,” the man told the court.
“I felt used,” he added.
With the help of a good Samaritan, who stopped to check on him in his distressed state, the man contacted police and reported the rape.
Jury took two hours to find Gavin Shand guilty
Condoms found at the scene were tested and one was found to have DNA from both Shand and his victim on it.
In his evidence, Shand denied raping the man and said the pair had simply taken drugs together.
He said they had passed time in the “junkie den” by blowing up condoms and trying to burst them by “firing needles”.
He claimed his accuser had become “a bit of a pain” when he realised Shand had no money, prompting him to ditch him.
But a jury took around two hours to reject Shand’s version of events and find him guilty of all the charges against him.
Judge Michael O’Grady called for pre-sentencing reports, with a view to potentially imposing an extended sentence, which would require Shand to be supervised in the community after his release.
He told Shand he had been convicted of “very, very serious offences” and noted that this referred to both the nature of the crimes and the circumstances in which they had been committed.
Rapist ‘preyed’ on vulnerable men
He said: “You preyed regularly on a very vulnerable and rather pathetic individual who had befriended you – this amounts to a breach of trust.”
Referring to Shand’s second victim he said: “This again represents an offence against a deeply vulnerable individual.”
The judge told Shand, whose address was given as a prisoner in HMP Grampian: “You appear on the face of it to be a predatory man.”
He placed Shand on the sex offenders register with immediate effect.
Advocate Lorenzo Alonzi, for Shand, reserved his comments in mitigation for the next calling of the case.
