A “cruel and cynical sexual predator” who raped two vulnerable men has been jailed for eight years.

Gavin Shand, 45, attacked one victim as the man slept and raped another in a tent on the banks of the River Clyde who was under the influence of heroin.

A judge told Shand he was a “cruel and cynical sexual predator”.

Michael O’Grady KC added: “You have a nose for a vulnerable victim and an eye for an opportunity.”

Shand attacked his first victim, who was in his 60s, at a house in Inverness at some point between January and August 2022.

The man was sleeping and incapable of giving or withholding consent.

The victim told a carer who visited him at his home that he had woken to find Shand raping him.

He said Shand told him: “I know you wanted it.”

Shand also exposed himself when he was at the house and asked the victim to perform oral sex on him.

‘I tried to push him back off me’

The second victim met Shand in Glasgow in August 2022.

He said Shand was looking for a place to use drugs while he needed someone to help him get a fix.

The victim, who was in his 30s, said he thought he was “lucky” at the time of the chance encounter and offered to take him to a “junkie den”.

He said he passed out after being injected with heroin and came round to find Shand carrying out a sex act on him.

He said: “I tried to push him back off me.”

Shand carried out the sex attack and rape on the man in a tent on the south embankment of the River Clyde near Glasgow Sheriff Court.

The victim described how Shand offered him money and drugs to keep quiet about the sexual assault.

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Shand denied a series of charges during an earlier trial but was found guilty of two rapes, two sex offences and attempting to defeat the ends of justice.

A background report noted that Shand, who continues to deny responsibility, has shown no remorse or concern.

He was sentenced at the High Court in Edinburgh on Thursday.

As well as the eight-year jail term, he will also be placed under supervision for a further four years once released back into the community.

Shand was also added to the sex offenders’ register.

Defence counsel John Brannigan told the court that Shand’s life had been blighted by addiction issues but was assessed as suitable for an offender programme aimed at making changes.

Mr Brannigan accepted that custody was the inevitable disposal in the case, with the judge replying: “We can both agree on that.”

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