A father-of-four has been jailed for six years for trying to rape a drunk and lost teenager late at night on a city street.
Married Vladimir Ichim, aged 54, steered the 18-year-old to a secluded dark spot and tried to have sex with her, Plymouth Crown Court heard.
She screamed and shouted and managed to fight him off near the Kings Road campus of City College Plymouth at about 5.30am.
Brazen Ichim claimed the woman willingly kissed and touched him sexually – despite being younger than his eldest daughter.
He claimed that she then asked him for £20.
But the court heard that she shouted and screamed so loudly that worried residents in Kings Road, Stoke, called the police.
Ichim, who was also drunk, was arrested near the attack, close to Monterey House.
Judge Paul Darlow said the girl was particularly vulnerable.
He told the defendant: "She was alone, drunk, lost and without any money. She told you that all she wanted to do was to get home but you seized your chance.
"You took her down a road out of sight where you intended to rape her. You did not persist, which has more to do with the victim's bravery than any moral rectitude on your part."
The court heard that the woman had become separated from friends and had lost her shoes after a night out in Plymouth.
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Groundworker Ichim, of Clifton Place, Greenbank, had denied attempting to rape the woman on September 27 last year. The jury of five men and five women took about three and a half hours to unanimously find him guilty after a week-long trial.
Romanian Ichim showed little reaction but sat with his head bowed through the hearing.
The teenager told the court through a statement that she had trouble sleeping and had suffered anxiety attacks.
She said that she was now on medication and receiving counselling from a group specialising in the care of victims of sexual offences.
The teenager said: "I used to go out every weekend but since this happened I have only been out three times and only with groups of people. I am not as confident as I used to be.
"I do not drink any more. I am fearful of strangers."
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She added that her relationship with her parents had been damaged.
The woman said that her mother felt like watching her "24 hours a day", while her father felt guilty that he had been unable to protect her.
Ali Rafati, for Ichim, said he would suffer more in prison than a British person because of his poor English.
The court heard that he had moved to this country three years ago after his circus acrobat daughter had been injured performing here.
He now faces deportation upon his release from jail, which should be in three years.
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