Ex-footballer jailed for rape bid

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A former footballer with Airdrie United and Clyde who was convicted of attempting to rape a woman in Glasgow has been jailed for four years.

Paul Reynolds, 19, from Moodiesburn in Glasgow, had claimed his 20-year-old victim wanted to have sex with him in the city's Midland Street, last May.

But the High Court in Glasgow heard how he had to be dragged off the screaming woman by two nightclub bouncers.

Judge Sean Murphy QC told Reynolds he had committed a "grave offence".

During his trial, Reynolds told the court he met the woman in Play nightclub, on Renfield Street, Glasgow.

He claimed to have spent most of the night with her, although he did not know her name.

Reynolds said they left the club together, started walking hand-in-hand, and, on Midland Street, they stopped and began kissing against a wall.

You have been convicted of an offence that must be viewed as a grave one Judge Sean Murphy QC

He claimed the woman wanted to have sex with him but was reluctant to do so without contraception.

Reynolds told the court he had been "trying to talk her round" and was not trying to rape her when he was pulled away by nightclub bouncers and pinned to the ground.

But his victim, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said she thought she was going to share a taxi home when Reynolds attacked her.

She said he struggled with her, pushed her to the ground, pulled her tights down and attempted to rape her.

The woman tried to roll into a ball and screamed loudly. Her cries were heard by two men who raced to the scene from nearby Jamaica Street.

But two bouncers from Rockers had already grabbed Reynolds and pulled him off, restraining him on the ground until police arrived.

Passing sentence, judge Murphy told Reynolds: "You have been convicted of an offence that must be viewed as a grave one."

Reynolds, who worked in a call centre, was at Clyde for two years from the age of 16 and then went to Airdrie United part-time.

He gained SFA certificates to coach 12 to 18-year-olds and had recently been offered a football scholarship in the USA.