Christopher McKeown, 30, was jailed for four years for the attack on the woman after a birthday night out.

McKeown had been among a number of people in the victim's house in October 2012.

The court heard how the woman pleaded for him to stop, before biting his lip to make him move away.

McKeown claimed that what happened was consensual. He said he had chatted with the woman and "One thing led to another".

McKeown's defence counsel, Robert Mitchell, asked the judge to limit any sentence as the matter had had a devastating effect on McKeown and his family.

The judge told McKeown: "The fact of the matter is that the root of the problem lies in the consumption of excessive quantities of alcohol. You are the victim of a culture which seems to be that large quantities of alcohol can be consumed without any effect on behaviour. It is tragically clear it did have an effect on you, as previous convictions show and the sooner you realise that the better". Rapes of this type had to be taken seriously he said and the lowest possible sentence was four years imprisonment.

For more, see next week's Barrhead News, out on October 1.