A STREET beggar who raked in up to £100 a day raped a 57-year-old woman after she expressed concern for his welfare.

James Campbell, who lived with his mum in Paisley, was begging in Buchanan Street, Glasgow, on August 16 last year when the woman noticed he wasn’t wearing a top, even though it was cold and raining.

She asked him if he was alright and chatted to him for about 10 minutes but he then followed her and refused to go away.

As the woman walked past a lane, 31-year-old Campbell demanded a kiss before restraining her and raping her.

At the High Court in Glasgow yesterday, he admitted carrying out the sex attack in a lane between West Nile Street and Nelson Mandela Place.

Campbell, who dressed in Celtic Football Club clothing and draped himself in an Irish tricolour, regularly begged in Buchanan Street.

Prosecutor Angela Gray said: “He told the woman ‘I love you. I want you to be my girlfriend.’ She replied ‘Don’t be daft, I don’t even know you.’”

The court heard the woman struggled with Campbell and repeatedly told him ‘Please don’t’ and ‘There is no need for this.’

Miss Gray added: “She repeatedly told him to stop and that he was hurting her. He did not stop and told her to shut up.

“A solicitor working in an office overlooking the lane saw the incident taking place and phoned the police.”

Officers arrived to find Campbell raping the woman and dragged him off her.

He had fresh scratch marks on his outer thighs.

The woman was visibly shaken and upset. She had bruised legs and grazes on her private parts.

Campbell told police: “She wanted rough sex, so I gave it to her.”

The rape was captured on CCTV and was described by Miss Gray as “graphic.”

She added: “It includes images of the woman and the accused in a state of partial undress.”

Miss Gray also told the court how Campbell “spent his days” begging in Buchanan Street.

She said: “It is understood he collected between £40 and £100 per day.”

Judge Lady Stacey placed Campbell, who has been in custody since August last year, on the Sex Offenders’ Register.

Sentence was deferred until March 1 to obtain background reports.

Solicitor advocate Alastair Gray will give his plea in mitigation then.

Lady Stacey told Campbell: “In light of the seriousness of the crime and your fairly extensive previous convictions, I will see if an extended sentence is required.”