A man who entered the home of a “complete stranger” and then went on to choke the woman unconscious and rape her during a life-threatening “night of terror” has been jailed for eight years.
Kyle Allan, 31, had been drinking heavily at a friend’s barbeque before going to the victim’s home in the Cove area of Aberdeen.
The 35-year-old woman, who had left her door unlocked as a family member had gone out for the evening, had settled down with a glass of wine when Allan struck.
The tyre-fitter seized her by the throat. The victim tried to fight him off by grabbing his face and beard and attempting to hit him in the groin, but Allan choked her unconscious.
Allan hit the woman on the head and body, forcibly removed her clothes and threw her to the ground before raping her.
The victim attempted to flee from her home but was assaulted and held back by Allan before he eventually left the house with his shorts still at his knees.
Prosecutor Isabella Ennis KC told judge Lord Ericht that Allan threatened to kill the woman and her family if she reported the attack to police.
The woman initially phoned a family member as well as a friend but urged them not to call emergency services as she was fearful that Allan would return.
However, the friend told her husband to dial 999 and Allan was traced and arrested the following day.
Ms Ennis said the incident has left the victim with “deep psychological trauma” and she has been unable to return home.
The incident occurred on 10 June this year.
At the High Court in Edinburgh last month, Allan pleaded guilty to a charge of rape and assaulting the woman to the danger of her life.
Allan, of Cove, was sentenced at the High Court in Dundee on Friday and was told he would have been facing 12 years behind bars had it not been for his early guilty plea.
He has also been added to the sex offenders’ register indefinitely.
Lord Ericht said Allan “entered the home of a complete stranger”.
The judge added: “You subjected her to a terrifying ordeal, grabbing her throat until she was unconscious and raping her.
“She pleaded with you and fought back bravely.”
Lord Ericht commended the woman for her bravery and praised all those who came to her aid following the attack.
The judge added: “This was a random attack involving extreme violence, a night of terror.”
Following Allan’s conviction, Police Scotland also praised the victim for her “strength throughout the investigation”.
Detective Inspector Mark Lambley added: “Kyle Allan is an extremely dangerous individual who attacked a woman in her own home.
“His actions were despicable and have had a profound effect on the woman.”
One of Britain’s most senior boardroom figures is to replace John Allan at the helm of Tesco.
Sky News can exclusively reveal that Gerry Murphy, the chairman of Burberry and Tate & Lyle, has been chosen to replace Mr Allan, whose recent departure was hastened by a series of personal misconduct allegations.
Sources said Dr Murphy’s appointment was expected to be announced early next week, although it could be brought forward to this weekend as a result of its disclosure by Sky News.
Dr Murphy is also chairman of Burberry, the global luxury fashion brand, and Tate & Lyle, the ingredients maker.
He is expected to step down from Tate & Lyle, which he has led since 2016, in due course.
The City is expected to welcome his appointment at Tesco given the extent of his consumer and retail industry pedigree.
During his executive career, he ran Carlton Communications, the DIY retailer Kingfisher and the logistics group Exel – which was also run at one stage by Mr Allan.
Dr Murphy has also worked at Blackstone, the private equity giant, and served on the boards of Abbey National, British American Tobacco and Reckitt Benckiser.
Mr Allan’s exit from Tesco had always been planned to take place in the next 12 months, but was accelerated when he became the subject of several unsubstantiated and anonymous claims about his behaviour.
It came as the CBI, the employers’ group where Mr Allan served a two-year term as president, was engulfed by sexual assault allegations which have brought it to the brink of collapse.
In a subsequent interview with Sky News’ Sophy Ridge, Mr Allan said Tesco and Barratt Developments, the housebuilder, had felt compelled “to propel me under the nearest bus”.
Sky News revealed in March that the supermarket chain had begun sounding out candidates to replace Mr Allan.
Lygon Group, the headhunter, has been working on the search with Byron Grote, Tesco’s acting chairman and senior independent director.
Mr Allan was due to step down next year, by which time he would have served for nearly a decade and be ‘timed out’ under corporate governance guidelines which mean that he would no longer be regarded as independent.
He was appointed as chairman of Tesco during the aftermath of the biggest crisis in the chain’s history, with the discovery of an accounting black hole which raised genuine questions about its survival.
Mr Allan arrived as the company scrambled to cut thousands of jobs, sell assets and shore up investor confidence.
Alongside Sir Dave Lewis, the then chief executive, he helped to stabilise the company, overseeing the sale of several large overseas businesses and rebuilding its market share in the UK.
In 2019, he oversaw the process of identifying Sir Dave’s successor, appointing former Boots executive Ken Murphy to replace him.
Tesco has steadily revived its domestic fortunes, and remains by far the largest food retailer in Britain.
Like its rivals, it has been grappling with the impact of the pandemic and, more recently, the rampant inflation which has gripped Britain’s economy.
In recent weeks the company, along with its peers, has been thrust into a fierce political debate about industry profiteering, with supermarket bosses quizzed this week by MPs about their pricing behaviour.
Its recovery has come during a period of seismic change in the industry, with Morrisons’ performance faltering, the German discounters Aldi and Lidl growing rapidly and Asda being sold to the billionaire Issa brothers and buyout firm TDR Capital.
On Friday, Tesco shares were trading at 260.8p, giving the company a market value of over £19bn.
Tesco and Tate & Lyle both declined to comment, while Burberry has been contacted for comment.
A night like no other, this year’s Eurovision was an extravaganza of musical legends and royalty, show-stopping acts and political statements – despite President Zelenskyy’s ban from sharing a message during the show.
Hosts Graham Norton, Hannah Waddingham, Ukrainian TV star Julia Sanina, and Alesha Dixon guided Eurovision fans through 26 performances, and the lengthy voting process that followed.
If you didn’t catch the four-hour show, or simply want to remind yourselves of the best bits – you’re in the right place. Here are the biggest moments of the night.
Musical royalty
Rumours had swirled of a surprise appearance, but while many had thought that maybe Sir Paul McCartney may get involved (spoiler – he didn’t), it was real royalty rather than pop royalty who made an appearance.
The Princess of Wales gave a pre-recorded piano performance in the show’s opener, dressed in a one-shoulder blue gown against a backdrop of sparking chandeliers.
And if that wasn’t enough, Queen star Roger Taylor accompanied a very sparkly Sam Ryder on the drums as he performed his latest single Mountain and Abba’s Bjorn Ulvaeus advised potential Eurovision winners of the “life-changing” effects of winning the show.
Who The Hell Is Edgar?
One of the most talked about acts of the night, Austria’s Teya & Salena kicked-off the competition with a spirited performance of Who The Hell Is Edgar?
Wearing black and white jumpsuits, and with a host of black and red clad backing dancers on the video screens behind them, they reminisced about being possessed by the ghost of literary great, Edgar Allan Poe.
An ode of sorts to the late 19th Century American writer, their song also gave a shout-out to Shakespeare and a loaded dig at how little artists get paid by streaming sites. An eclectic mix, but they somehow pulled it off.
Getting political
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was barred from making an address at the grand final, but that didn’t stop some of the acts taking steps to “politicise” the content.
Read more The Eurovision grand final as it happened Eurovision Song Contest 2023 in pictures
The song of Ukrainian act Tvorchi, Heart Of Steel, was inspired by the siege of Mariupol, and specifically the defence of the Azovstal iron and steel works. It later came to light that the duo’s university home town Ternopil had come under fire from Russian missiles at around the time they took to the stage.
Croatia’s Let 3 performed Mama SC! in front of two giant nuclear warheads stuffed with giant lit sparklers with their lyrics including the line “Mama bought a tractor” which is understood to be in reference to Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko who bought Vladimir Putin a tractor for his 70th birthday, and another line mocking dictators for being “psychopaths”.
And Czechia’s Vesna sang part of their song, My Sister’s Crown, in Ukrainian, with part of their lyrics translating as: “You are so strong, brave and the only one, the crown is yours, my beautiful sister”.
A large portion of the celebrity spokespeople giving their country’s jury votes also expressed their solidarity with Ukraine.
The novelty acts
With one of the wackiest of the acts of the night – Kaarija’s hyper-pop-rap tune Cha Cha Cha – coming close to winning the show, the bar was set high for the more bizarre acts of the night.
Germany’s pop-metal act Lord Of The Lost bellowed Blood And Glitter with gusto that 2006 winners Hard Rock Hallelujah would have been proud of. They came ninth overall.
Croatia’s Let 3 (five mature blokes dressed in blood-stained coats and military garb) stripped off to their pants and vests mid-way through their song Mama SC!
Belgian’s Gustaph hit some impressive high notes in his performance of 90s-inspired hit Because Of You in a bizarre outfit of candy floss pink trousers and an oversized cream cowboy hat. Australia clearly loved it, giving him the top score of 12 points.
Meanwhile other rather unusual stage devices and props included a metres-long skirt drop (France), a rave in a box, a very large shadow and neon pink maypole (Finland of course), and several female acts writhing around on the floor (Israel and Poland). Welcome to Eurovision.
History is made
They were favourites to win and Sweden followed through on the promise.
The country’s act, Loreen, has now made history as the first woman to win more than once after first taking the crown back in 2012.
(Irish singer Johnny Logan won the competition twice, in 1980 and 1987, in case you were wondering).
The 39-year-old’s win for dance-pop anthem Tattoo also means Sweden has drawn level with Ireland for the country with the most Eurovision wins – seven apiece.
Why is Australia here?
Despite being located on the opposite side of the earth, Australians are honorary Europeans for the sake of Eurovision.
Being members of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) – a union of publicly funded broadcasters around the world which any country can join – gave them the right to enter.
Long-haired voyager lead singer Danny Estrin – an immigration lawyer by day and a singer by night – rocked out on the bonnet of a vintage Toyota MR2 as he performed Promise, and was well received by fans and voters alike.
This could even have been Australia’s final chance to grab the trophy – their contract with Eurovision runs out this year, so it will need to be renegotiated before next year’s contest in Sweden.
Hannah Waddingham: Eurovision Queen
And special mention has to go to Hannah Waddingham – a new host to the Eurovision stage, but a firm fan favourite after just a few weeks.
She impressed with her language skills from the off (she’s fluent in French and Italian), her indefatigability (always ready to bring that extra squeeze of fun to proceedings), her impressive singing voice (she’s also a West End and Broadway star by the way) and not one but two stunning outfits during the show.
Of course, Ted Lasso fans couldn’t have been more chuffed to see in a very different role to that of headstrong football team owner Rebecca Welton in the surprise Apple TV + hit that’s garnered a league of devotees around the world.
Let’s hope her long-time friend Graham Norton is happy to concede his position as the UK’s best loved commentator now Eurovision’s found a new queen.
And with that we sign off from Eurovision 2023 – see you in Sweden next year!