A SEX predator caught after his victim secretly recorded him raping her has been jailed for almost six years.
Francis O'Neill struck while the woman was sleeping at a property in Greenock on July 19, 2023.
The 36 year-old had turned up there, was repeatedly asked to leave, but failed to go.
Jurors heard how the woman eventually went to bed.
O'Neill meantime also later went upstairs claiming to go to the toilet.
But, the victim had been wary of him before falling asleep and had switched on the record button on her mobile phone.
A recording was played at O'Neill's trial with the damning evidence leading to him being convicted of rape.
He was sentenced at the High Court in Glasgow today.
Judge Alasdair MacFadyen told him: "The recording supported her evidence that you entered her bed and had sex with her while she was asleep and incapable of consent.
"You used her unconscious body for your sexual gratification."
The judge said the woman's confidence had been 'undermined' as a result of what O'Neill did.
He was sentenced to a total of five years and nine months.
O'Neill had also been convicted of threatening and abusive behaviour.
He had been on bail at the time of the offences.
Drew McKenzie, defending, said: "He continues to maintain his innocence."
O'Neill was further put on the sex offenders list and banned from going near the woman - both for an indefinite period.
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