A YORK husband is today preparing for jail and is going on the sex offenders' register for raping a young woman guest at his home.

David Glen Atkin, 42, showed no reaction as the jury convicted him of the sex attack that terrified the 22-year-old victim so much she fled shoeless into the night.

The woman was sleeping in his spare bedroom in Fountayne Street, The Groves, because she had no hot water in her own home, York Crown Court heard.

She told the jury how some time after midnight, she awoke to find him "messing about with her breasts" and despite her attempts to prevent him, he raped her.

"Custody will follow this," the honorary recorder of York Judge Paul Hoffman told Atkin.

He adjourned the case at the request of defence barrister Geraldine Kelly for a pre-sentence report and gave Atkin bail. The jury of five men and seven women took just over two hours to return their unanimous verdict.

Atkin had denied rape, claiming the woman had wanted sex.

Members of his family burst into tears at the verdict and when they continued to cry, the judge ordered them out of court. Atkin has been married for 21 years and has three children.

The judge then wished the jury a pleasant weekend.

"Don't go away feeling any anxiety," he told them. "It is the defendant's actions that have brought him to this court and resulted in the verdict."

The woman told the jury she awoke in the early hours to find Atkin touching her sexually. Despite saying no and trying to get away from him, he raped her. She then fled the house until she reached York District Hospital.

The jury heard evidence from a staff nurse and police officers who saw her in a dishevelled state. Police later found her shoes in Atkin's home.

The jury also heard medical evidence about bruises on her lower body and other injuries.

In his evidence, Atkin said he was drunk when he arrived home shortly before the rape.

He added that he had hosted young exchange students at the University of York for several years without a single complaint of inappropriate behaviour until he stopped it because of the rape case. After the verdict, a university spokesman said that it did not organise such accommodation directly and referred us to a London organisation, which said it had no-one called Atkin currently on its books.

Updated: 10:28 Saturday, April 20, 2002