A pensioner who raped a neighbour while she was sleeping has been jailed for five years.

Roy Osborne, 65, pounced on 36-year-old Gillian Beveridge as she dozed on his couch.

The victim woke up to find Osborne raping her. When she told him to stop, the accused said: "You were gagging for it."

At the High Court in Glasgow on Tuesday, Judge Sean Murphy QC told Osborne: "You have been convicted of a very serious sexual offence.

"You took advantage of a woman who was in no condition to give consent."

Miss Beveridge, who died a year after the rape, achieved justice from beyond the grave thanks to an interview she gave to police on August 12, 2017.

She said: "I was raped by my neighbour Roy Osborne. Roy was just a neighbour, just a friend.

"He's an old man and I've never been sexually attracted to him."

She added: "I had got to Roy's house and I was napping on the couch in the living room. I woke up and he was on top of me.

"I was shocked. It was so unexpected. His trousers were down and I told him to get off and he told me I was gagging for it."

Miss Beveridge, who worked for Lanarkshire Council as a housing officer, also told police: "Roy would often tell me he loved me, made a song up about me and had dreams about me.

"I told him I wasn't interested."

Osborne, of Symington, South Lanarkshire, denied raping Miss Beveridge and claimed he had been having sex with her since May 2017.

Quizzed about the rape, Osborne, who had worked as a carer, told the jury Miss Beveridge had sex with him after she refused to go to a doctor's appointment.

His advocate Kevin McCallum asked: "Any concerns that she was not willing to participate?"

He replied: "No."

Osborne insisted Miss Beveridge was not under the influence and was "aware of her surroundings".

The jury convicted Osborne of raping Miss Beveridge at his home on August 11, 2017.

Mr McCallum told the court: "Mr Osborne continues to maintain his innocence.

"He had a history of employment, then cared for his second wife until her death and did voluntary work up until this incident."

In addition to the prison sentence, Osborne was also placed on the Sex Offenders' Register.