Jailed for nine years, Romanian predator who raped doctor in city centre street

A Romanian man who raped a doctor on a city center street has been jailed for nine years and branded a ‘danger to women’ by a judge.

Mihai Nicolae Patran attacked a 27-year-old foreigner in Glasgow’s Mitchell Street in November 2023.

The traumatized victim eventually escaped Patran by taking refuge in the safety of a taxi while partially clothed.

Patran was later arrested and during his first trial, he performed a sex act on himself while sitting in the dock.

The 34-year-old Romanian was sentenced at the High Court in Glasgow yesterday after being found guilty following a trial last month.

Judge Norman McFadyen told Patran: ‘You are a dangerous man and a danger to women.

‘It is hoped that you will be deported or removed from the country as soon as possible.’

But the judge said he had to consider the possibility that Patran would continue to pose a risk to the public by being released in Scotland.

Patran also flashed at a woman on a train between Perth and Stirling on 22 October 2023.

CCTV footage of Mihai-Nicolae Patran walking on Mitchell Street in Glasgow

Under these circumstances, Patran should be kept under surveillance for three years after his release, he said.

It wasn’t long after the doctor moved into the city before the attack. He explained that he went to a party and decided to go downtown with the others.

He was late in leaving and eventually took a taxi on his own. Realizing that it was late and most bars would be closed, he headed to the Taco Bell restaurant to get food and walked toward Mitchell Street.

He mentioned that his arm was touched and that it was ‘just like a strange man being there’.

A man emerged from an ‘alcove’ in the alley and the woman ‘froze’. He told prosecutor Greg Farrell: ‘I was so scared. ‘I think I just froze mentally.’

The woman said the man fell to the ground, ‘kind of towering over’ her.

He told jurors how he eventually escaped, saying: ‘I remember picking up my phone and immediately ordering an Uber taxi; Thank goodness it arrived quite quickly.’ Patran was arrested following a police investigation. He claimed that the doctor allowed sexual intercourse.

Patran appeared at Glasgow Sheriff Court days after the attack. The woman was handcuffed by the detention officer after she saw the predator groping her.

The sheriff was later alerted and the police intervened.

It was also revealed that Patran shot a woman on the train between Perth and Stirling on October 22, 2023.

Patran was found guilty of all three charges and was placed on the sex offenders register indefinitely.