Sunshine on Leith star Kevin Guthrie has been released from prison after the actor won an appeal against his three-year prison sentence for sexual assault.
The 34-year-old actor was jailed for three years in prison last May for detaining a woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, in a flat in the far west of Glasgow in September 2017.
The Glasgow Sheriff’s Court heard how the attack took place on a property of fellow actor Scott Reid, who rose to fame as Methadone Mick in the BBC Scotland’s beloved comedy Still Game.
On Wednesday, Guthrie’s lawyers failed in an attempt to overturn her conviction following a hearing in the Edinburgh Criminal Court of Appeal.
But defense attorney Ian Duguid QC successfully argued that Guthrie’s sentence was too long given the circumstances of the crime.
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Duguid argued before Judges Lord Carloway, Lord Pentland and Lord Matthews that people in positions similar to Guthrie received shorter prison sentences.
The appellate judges accepted and reduced Guthrie’s sentence from three to two years.
The decision causes Guthrie to be released immediately, as she has already served the equivalent of a two-year prison sentence.
Lord Carloway told lawyers acting in the case that the court will issue its reasons for cutting Guthrie’s conviction in an opinion in the near future.
During the proceedings in Glasgow Sheriff’s Court, Guthrie denied any wrongdoing and said he had only “helped” the woman after she fell ill.
However, the jury was told that his DNA was found inside his underwear.
The 29-year-old was due to meet the men at a bar in Glasgow, but Mr Reid received a call from a taxi driver to look for her because she looked ill.
He and Guthrie helped the woman into Glasgow’s Kelvindale flat and put her to bed.
The court heard Mr Reid called NHS 24 and left Guthrie in the room “to make sure she was okay”.
The woman told the court, “I remember they lifted my top and held my bra.”
She was throbbed by Guthrie before she had sex with him.
Guthrie had two more sexual acts and kissed her on the mouth.
The court learned that he would stop when Mr. Reid entered the courtroom.
Guthrie, who also starred in the Fantastic Beasts movies and the Netflix series The English Game, was found guilty after a four-day trial and registered as a sex offender indefinitely.
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Sheriff Tom Hughes placed Guthrie on the Sex Offender Registry indefinitely told her, “The court must show that women can protect themselves from domestic sex offenses.”
He added: “The crime for which you have been convicted caused distress and consequences to the young woman involved in this case.
“She was ill and thought her drink had been raised elsewhere that night.
“The jury agreed that you committed these heinous crimes and the only appropriate sentence is imprisonment.”
On Thursday, Guthrie watched the proceedings via a video link from Dumfries Prison.
Duguid told the court that Guthrie suffered “misrepresentation” during his initial trial and should overturn his conviction.
He added: “The case was not handled properly. There were failures in the case.”
The appellate judges refused to set aside Guthrie’s conviction, but agreed with the defense’s arguments that the sentence imposed on him was too long.
A trial explaining why Guthrie’s sentence will be published in the near future.
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