A VIOLENT predator who repeatedly stabbed a woman after she refused to have sex with him before subjecting her to rape was warned he faced a “significant” jail term.
Rowan McKenna locked his victim in a flat in the Gorgie area of Edinburgh and detained her in the property and made sexual remarks towards her.
After she declined to have intercourse with him he struck her with the knife on the body and held a blade against her face.
McKenna, 25, then subjected the woman, who was in fear for her life, to a rape ordeal during the attack on July 27 in 2023.
He had denied the offence during a trial at the High Court in Edinburgh but was convicted of abducting, assaulting and raping the victim.
He was also found guilty of brutally attacking another woman who also refused to have sex with him a few months earlier at a flat in the Leith area of the city.
McKenna shouted at her and threatened to stab her and another woman who was present, spat on her face, pulled her to the floor and repeatedly kicked her on the head during the previous assault on March 7 in 2023.
After the jury returned guilty verdicts on the charges they heard that McKenna has a significant criminal record, including for crimes of violence.
Judge Lord Scott told him: “You have been convicted of rape.
“This is one of the most serious charges that anyone can be convicted of in our courts.
“Without any doubt, you will be receiving a significant custodial sentence.
“You may take it that the length of time that you spend in custody will be a considerable number of years.”
The judge deferred sentence on him for the preparation of a background report and risk assessment and remanded him in custody.
McKenna, a prisoner in Edinburgh’s Saughton jail, was placed on the sex offenders’ register ahead of sentencing when he will formalllearn the period he will be on the register.
The judge added: “You may take it you will be subject to the notification requirements for life.”
