A STREET beggar, who raked in up to £100 a day, raped a 57-year-old woman after she expressed concern for his welfare.

Today, at the High Court in Glasgow, James Campbell, 31, admitted raping the woman, on August 16 last year at around 6.30pm in a lane between West Nile Street and Nelson Mandela Place.

Campbell, who lived with his mother in Paisley, was out begging on August 16 on Buchanan Street, and the woman noticed he was not wearing a top – although it was cold and raining.

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The woman asked him if he was alright and chatted to him for about 10 minutes. Campbell then followed her and refused to go away.

As the woman walked past the lane, Campbell demanded a kiss before restraining her and raping her.

Campbell, who dressed in Celtic Football Club clothing and draped himself in an Irish tricolour, regularly begged on Buchanan Street.

Prosecutor Angela Gray said: “He told the woman, ‘I love you. I want you to be my girlfriend’, and she replied, ‘Don’t be daft, I don’t even know you’.

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“A solicitor working in an office overlooking the lane saw the incident taking place and phoned the police.”

Officers arrived to find Campbell raping the woman and dragged him off her. He had fresh scratch marks on his outer thighs.

The woman was visibly shaken and upset. She had bruised legs and grazes on her private parts.

Campbell told police: “She wanted rough sex so I gave it to her.”

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The brutal rape was captured on CCTV and was described by Miss Gray as “graphic.”

Judge Lady Stacey placed Campbell, who has been in custody since August, last year, on the sex offenders' register.

Sentenced was deferred on Campbell until March 1 to obtain background reports.

Solicitor advocate Alastair Gray will give his plea in mitigation then.