A SEX predator has been found guilty of raping a sleeping 15 year-old girl.

Martin Lochrane was convicted of an attack branded “degrading and disgusting” by prosecutors.

The 28 year-old claimed the youngster had agreed to have sex with him in April last year.

But, a jury heard how the schoolgirl was “borderline hysterical” after being pounced upon at the house in Airdrie, North Lanarkshire.

Lochrane now faces a lengthy jail-term after being found guilty of rape following a trial at the High Court in Glasgow.

The dad will learn his fate when he returns to the dock later this month.

Lochrane, of Coatbridge, North Lanarkshire, was engaged to be married at the time of the crime.

The teenager recalled how she had been asleep on a sofa when she awoke to find Lochrane having sex with her.

The jury heard her sinister attacker tried to “muffle” her with his arm warning her not to tell anyone.

It was stated the girl was in an “extreme state of distress” for hours after her ordeal.

In his closing speech to jurors, prosecutor Mark McGuire said Lochlane claimed what occurred was “entirely consensual”.

But, the advocate depute went on: “If that is true, why on earth would the girl be so distraught immediately afterwards?

“Why on earth would she call her sister and parents in a state of borderline hysteria, crying and sobbing?”

Mr McGuire said Lochlane’s claims were “utter hogwash” and that the rapist had given an “cynical and unconvincing” account of what went on.

He further described the attack as “deliberate, degrading and disgusting”.

Lochrane is due to be sentenced on November 30 in Edinburgh.