A young person has been jailed for 3 years for raping a woman when she was simply 12.

Myles Harris was 18 when he attacked the lady at Gala Policies park in Galashiels final yr, the High Court in Edinburgh was advised.

Judge Lord Scott stated Harris might have anticipated to obtain a long run in jail had he not been so younger on the time of the offence.

He stated that if Harris been an grownup on the time, he might have been sentenced to serve as much as a yr and a half longer in jail.

New guidelines for sentencing under-25s got here into impact in Scotland in January 2022, which goal to scale back reoffending by specializing in rehabilitation slightly than punishment.

The courtroom heard Harris, who has since turned 19, had "no memory" of the offence as he was closely intoxicated on the time.

Defence counsel Lili Prais defined Harris had began misusing substances aged 12 and that this escalated as he grew older.

She stated he then fell in with a nasty crowd and went on make some "extremely poor" life selections, resulting in the rape within the Scottish Borders on January 16 final yr.

She advised the courtroom: "He is devastated by the actions of that night time. He accepts full accountability.

"He has no memory of the incident. He had consumed substances.

"He now not misuses medication or alcohol. He is now not associating with damaging peer teams."

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Ms Prais stated Harris had moved to Canterbury, Kent, to stick with his grandparents and was prepared to take part in any programme that would assist his rehabilitation.

"There is no better example of capacity to show change," she stated.

Judge Scott stated a custodial sentence was justified contemplating the seriousness of the offence.

"You raped a child when you were 18 and she was only 12," he stated.

"You knew her age."

A sufferer affect evaluation reported that the lady continues to endure "serious" and "ongoing" results from her expertise on a "daily" foundation.

Judge Scott additionally advised Harris that being underneath the affect of drink or medication on the time of the offence made no distinction to his deliberations.

"I must make clear the usage of alcohol or drugs provides you with no excuse or mitigation at all," he stated.

Harris, who admitted the offence and appeared through video-link from custody, was advised his three-year sentence could be backdated to the day he was taken into custody final month.

He was additionally positioned on the intercourse offenders register indefinitely.