Prison for dessert shop boss rapist from Dundee after Perth attack

A predatory dessert shop boss from Dundee, convicted of raping a schoolgirl in his work van in Perth, has been jailed.

Veron Galmangoda Guruge De Silva took an unexpected detour while driving the girl home on a “pitch-black” night.

The creep told her, “you’ll see” when she asked where they were going, before he attacked her in a car park.

De Silva has now been imprisoned after previously being found guilty by a jury at the High Court in Dundee of raping the child in April 2024.

He is on the sex offenders register for life.

Then aged 30, De Silva admitted having sex with the 15-year-old, knowing she was underage, but insisted this was consensual.

In a pre-recorded interview played to the jury, the youngster described how she “just froze” when De Silva raped her in his small van in Howarden Terrace.

She described how De Silva parked the van and forced her to perform a sex act on him before she was raped.

“I just couldn’t move,” she said during the interview.

“I couldn’t say anything. It was 11pm, there was nowhere to go.”

Flashy De Silva – who ran Caramel Express in Perth – bragged about owning businesses and a £60,000 car during weeks of messages with the girl.

He told the trial how all sexual contact was consensual, despite knowing the girl was underage and still at school.

Defence counsel Gillian Ross KC asked: “Did she consent to what was happening sexually in the van?”

“Yes, she did consent,” De Silva, who was recently working as a chef, replied.

Ms Ross asked: “Did you rape her?”

De Silva said: “Never, I did not rape her. I wouldn’t do that to anybody in my whole life.
“I know myself that’s something I would never do.”

De Silva, who is of Sri Lankan and Italian heritage, appeared to sob after Ms Ross asked how he felt now about what happened.

He said: “I wish I could go back and change it.

“I wouldn’t want her mum to hear this type of stuff. I wish I can explain to her what happened.”

During his evidence, De Silva suggested the girl grabbed his hoodie while kissing him and pulled him towards her in the van.

In his closing speech to the jury, advocate depute Derrick Nelson said: “She was taken in by the attention and romantic notions brought about by the messages but the stark reality was different.

“She found herself in a situation where she couldn’t escape and couldn’t do anything.”

De Silva appeared at the High Court in Glasgow for sentencing following the preparation of a social work report.

Judge Lord Renucci sentenced De Silva to six years and six months in custody with a lifelong non-harassment order also imposed.

He is also subject to sex offender notification requirements for an indefinite period.

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