Sex attacker is facing jail after assault

Published on Friday 9 May 2008 10:27

A SEX attacker who left a woman so frightened she jumped out of a first floor window to escape him is facing jail.

Alexander Gemmell was found guilty at the High Court in Edinburgh of assaulting the 47-year-old with intent to rape her in East Lothian. The trial heard he met his victim, a waitress, at a bus stop in Princes Street on November 1 last year. She invited him to sleep on her couch because she felt sorry for him as he was homeless.

But Gemmell, 46, became aggressive, ripping off the woman's jumper and bra, slapping her and grabbing her by the neck. He tried to push her into the bedroom, and threatened to stab her. The woman escaped by climbing through a bathroom window and falling to the ground.

She was taken to Edinburgh Royal Infirmary with a spinal injury and a fractured right ankle and spent four days in hospital.

After the unanimous guilty verdict, Judge Lord Brodie said he was considering a lifelong supervision order. Gemmell, a prisoner in Edinburgh, will be sentenced in August.