A man who raped a woman while she was asleep on a couch has been jailed for seven-and-a-half years.

Graeme Gate had gone on a night out with the woman and her friend before he sexually assaulted her at a house in Inverness on 23 August 2025.

She had never met Gate before that night.

Gate, 35, pleaded guilty to the rape charge last month.

At the High Court in Glasgow, Lord Arthurson told him: "This was a predatory offence of sexual violence upon a highly vulnerable young woman who was entirely unknown to you.

"I have read the impact statement prepared by [the woman] - it is highly articulate and captures what is the severe trauma of her experience of this appalling crime.

"The damage caused by you has been devastating and is enduring."

Gate - who already had a string of previous convictions - had his sentence cut from 10 years due to the guilty plea.

The court heard how the woman and a friend had gone to the house where the attack happened before going to the city centre on a night out.

Gate, from Stornoway on the Isle of Lewis, and another man were also at the house.

He joined the woman and her friend in a taxi before they went to several bars.

The woman and Gate later returned to the house without her friend.

The court heard she was affected by alcohol and ended up falling asleep on the couch.

The other man - who had not gone out with that night - also woke up when he heard the woman shout out.

He went into the room and found Gate with "a shocked look on his face" while protesting his innocence.

The victim later messaged Gate on social media, stating he made her feel "disgusting, dirty and worthless" and she was going to report him to the police.

Gate denied any sexual contact.

Declan O'Keefe, defending, said it was a "significant understatement" to say Gate had "massively misread" any apparent interaction with the victim before the attack.

The advocate said: "Graeme Gate's impulsive behaviour will have a devastating impact on [the woman] for the rest of her life."

Gate was also put on the sex offenders list and banned from going near the woman - both for an indefinite period.