An Edinburgh man assaulted a woman who fell asleep on his cough while visiting him. He has now been placed on the Sex Offenders Register.

The man is Bogdan Raczynski, aged 53. After attending church, a friend visited him in his apartment in the Magdalene area last year.

The friends had drinks together, and the woman then went to sleep on the sofa. However, in the middle of the night, the woman woke up and found that Raczynski had crept up on her and pulled her leggings and underwear down.

She screamed for him to stop and later fled the apartment. After telling her friend about the unsettling incident the woman decided to report what had happened to the authorities.

Raczynski admitted to having assaulted the woman, and on Thursday, he appeared at Edinburgh Sheriff Court for sentencing.

Defense agent Peter Winning pointed out that his client had stopped attacking the woman when she told him to.

Raczynski had accepted blame for the offense and Winning said he leads "a relatively quiet life" and had a "good work history."

"When this matter was called before me previously I heard a full account of the circumstances and your conduct on the occasion I heard about was completely unacceptable," Sheriff Kenneth Campbell KC said.

"This must have been a troubling, upsetting, and frightening experience for the woman concerned. I take account of the fact you stopped when she said she did want your advances. On balance I am satisfied there is an alternative to custody in this case," he continued.

Raczynski was placed on the Sex Offenders Register and will be supervised by the local social work department for 18 months.

He was sentenced to 225 hours of unpaid work in the community.

According to Tax Representative Jennifer McLaren, the woman and Raczynski had been friends for 15 years. The unfortunate incident happened on March 29 last year.

"Around 5.30 pm [the victim] and a friend attended a church service together, and following this [she] contacted the accused and asked if she could visit him, and he agreed," McLaren explained.

"Upon their arrival, the accused was at home alone, and the three sat together eating food and drinking alcohol. This was a mixture of whisky and vodka."

The socializing went on for a few hours, causing the women to miss the last bus home.

Raczynski said the women could spend the night at his place. The victim went to bed on the couch while her friend slept in the spare bedroom.

It was 3 am and 4 am when the woman on the sofa woke up, finding Raczynski standing over her.

The court was informed that he "grabbed hold of her leg and seized hold of her leggings" while trying to "pull these down."

During the struggle, the accused managed to drag her lower clothes down. She then told him to stop.

Reportedly, the woman lost consciousness and woke up the next morning. She immediately left the apartment together with her female friend.

Raczynski pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting a woman by repeatedly attempting to remove her lower clothing, struggling with her, and removing her lower clothing.