A man was jailed for 30 months yesterday for a “nasty” sex attack on a woman in a Highland town.
Nicholas Baldacchino assaulted his victim at the rear of High Street premises in Alness on October 20 last year.
During the attack Baldacchino, 23, pulled the woman to the ground and put his arms around her to stop her getting up.
He pulled down her trousers and underwear and molested the victim.
The judge Lord Bannatyne told Baldacchino, described as a prisoner in Inverness, at the High Court in Edinburgh: “For an offence of this type, which in my view remains a nasty one, there can only be one sentence.
“There is no alternative to a sentence of imprisonment.”
Baldacchino, a Maltese speaker, was earlier convicted of the indecent assault.
His counsel, Lorenzo Alonzi, said Baldacchino was in “a steady relationship” with a partner and the couple had a two-year-old daughter.
He said: “He does express remorse. He does feel guilty for having cheated on his partner.”
The defence counsel said the first offender was “aware he is facing a custodial sentence”.
