A JURY took less than half an hour yesterday to return a unanimous not guilty verdict against a man who had been accused of raping a teenage girl in the toilet at a city-centre branch of McDonald's.
Ryan McPhee, 20, was discharged at the end of a three-day trial, during which his lawyer had argued that sex had taken place with the girl's consent.
The verdict of the ten-man, five-woman jury was delivered on the day that the Scottish Law Commi
ssion unveiled proposals to reform sexual offences laws. The plans include a clear, statutory definition of consent which would be given to jurors who, at the moment, are left to work it out for themselves.
Currently, the conviction rate in rape cases in Scotland stands at 4 per cent, one of the lowest in the world.
It was alleged that Mr McPhee, of Kirkcaldy, Fife, had assaulted the girl, then 16, on a Saturday night in July last year at McDonald's in Princes Street, Edinburgh. The girl, now 17 and a student, said she and a friend had a single glass of wine before going into town. She was in the toilet when she heard banging on the door and opened it to find Mr McPhee outside.
The girl said Mr McPhee, whom she had never seen before, tried to kiss her, and stood in the way when she made to walk past him. He pushed her into the toilet and locked the door. She alleged that Mr McPhee raped her.
Mr McPhee's solicitor-advocate, Iain Paterson, reminded the jury that the girl had said the incident happened about 7pm, yet other evidence timed it at about 10pm. Also, she had said at one point that Mr McPhee had pushed her lightly on the arm into the cubicle, but later said it was by the waist.
The lawyer also pointed out that there had been no damage to the girl's clothes, and she suffered no injuries to her body.
An expert witness had testified that it was surprising there were no marks if sex had taken place in the positions she described. It was also said that Mr McPhee had been drunk, and the chances of injuries occurring were increased when someone was unco-ordinated.
Mr Paterson said the girl had delayed contacting the police, and had been persuaded by her friend to report the incident. "You may infer that the reason she did not want to phone the police was because it was all made up," he suggested to the jury.
The judge, Lady Clark, directed the jury that with the girl's account and evidence of her distressed state, there was sufficient evidence in law for a conviction. However, it was for the jurors to assess the quality of that evidence.
BACKING FOR LAW REFORMMINISTERS hope to bring in a "great deal" of the changes to rape laws proposed by legal chiefs, Kenny MacAskill, the justice secretary, said yesterday.
He said he hoped the changes would help to address Scotland's historically low conviction rate for rape.
A report by the Law Commission of Scotland has called for the definition of consent to be placed on the statute book for the first time.
The commission has also proposed new offences of sexual assault and sexual coercion, but decided against dropping the need for corroboration in rape cases.
"We would hope to be able to implement a great deal of what they have brought forward and, in particular, the law of consent is something that we believe has to be clarified," said Mr MacAskill.
The full article contains 605 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
