A PREDATOR who raped a 14-year-old girl during a terrifying daytime attack at a railway station has been jailed for six years.

Robert Ferrier had been freed from jail just days earlier when he struck.

The attack occurred on a platform at Bogston Railway Station in Greenock in Scotland on August 11 in 2019.

The terrified young victim told jurors she did not know Greenock man Ferrier, who had claimed the sex was consensual.

The 21-year-old was yesterday sentenced at the High Court in Glasgow after he was found guilty last month of raping the girl following a trial in Paisley.

Lord Arthurson told Ferrier that the crime merited a lengthy custodial sentence.

He added: "You were convicted of the rape of a 14-year-old girl, who was essentially a stranger to you.

"You had been released nine days previously from a sentence for possession of a knife while on bail.

"This was a grave sexual offence against a child, one which occurred in broad daylight."

The judge noted Ferrier had 17 previous convictions and had been locked up 11 times in the past for a string of offences.

Ferrier will also be supervised for four years on his release from custody.

He was further placed on the Sex Offenders Register indefinitely.

His lawyer Victoria Dow told the hearing that he client maintained his innocence.

She added: "Mr Ferrier maintains the position that he had at trial.

"He says that this was a consensual act and that he believed the girl to be 16 years of age."