Student jailed for two Aberdeen rapes

A student has been jailed for 12 years for raping two women in Aberdeen after his DNA gave him away.

John Ikhine, 32, was charged with the first incident when he carried out another attack two years later. DNA evidence linked the two cases.

Judge Lord Bannatyne noted that both women had been badly affected by what had happened to them.

He told Ikhine at the High Court in Edinburgh: "It is clear that you present a substantial risk."

A trial heard how, in December 2006, Nigerian national Ikhine picked up a 21-year-old woman who had been drinking with friends in Aberdeen city centre.

He lured her into Porthill Court, pinned her to the ground, pulled off her trousers and forced her to have sex with him.

Ikhine struck again in November 2008 at a flat in Aberdeen.

First offender

A 26-year-old woman told how she was pinned to a bed and throttled as her scarf was pulled tight round her neck, before being raped.

After police tracked Ikhine down, they discovered that DNA samples taken from the second victim matched those from the first attack.

Ikhine claimed that the 21-year-old woman had been willing to accompany him and there had been some contact which stopped short of full sex.

He completely denied the second charge, telling a jury the sex was consensual.

But the jury found him guilty.

Defence advocate Ronnie Renucci said: "His position remains the same as it did throughout the trial. It has been his position from day one."

First offender Ikhine was led to the cells still claiming he was innocent.

Ikhine came to Scotland from Nigeria to study at Aberdeen's Robert Gordon University, preparing for a job in the oil industry.