RAPIST JAILED AFTER STREET ATTACK
RAPIST Colin Platt repeatedly punched his 18-year-old victim and threatened to kill her unless she carried out "sexual indignities" on him in the street.Very drunk and high on drugs, Platt, aged 23, rained blows on the terrified girl, demanding sexual favours before raping her on a pavement.
Detectives say the girl, who was enjoying a night out with her step-sister at the time of the ordeal, had taken every precaution to ensure a safe night out in Warrington.
Now the victim believes her life has been ruined - she received treatment for a sexually transmitted disease after the rape, her relationship with her boyfriend broke down and she has suffered from panic attacks.
This week Platt was in the dock at Warrington Crown Court - just yards from the scene of the attack in Bath Street last January.
He admitted raping the girl, assaulting her, attacking her older step-sister and was jailed for seven years.
Judge Stephen Clarke said: "It can only be hoped that time is a healer and that she can one day regain her confidence." Platt must also sign the Sex Offenders' Register for the rest of his life.
Outside court, Det Sgt Steve Grace, who led the investigation into Platt, described the viciousness of the rape and the events leading up to it.
"These two girls took every precaution, coming to Warrington in the afternoon before their night out, planning the route they were going to take and booked into a hotel," said DS Grace.
"They went out to enjoy themselves and this girl was subjected to this violent and horrific assault." Earlier prosecutor Robert Trevor Jones told the court that the girls were returning to their hotel when they encountered Platt and his friend, John Gallagher.
Innocently enough at first, Platt asked them for a chip.
But then he began to ask "more intrusive questions", said Mr Trevor Jones, putting his arm around the older step-sister and demanding a kiss.
In response to lewd comments by the defendant, one of the girls made a sarcastic remark.
Platt turned around and hit the older girl in the face, before repeatedly punching the 18-year-old to the ground.
The older step-sister ran off towards her hotel, with Mr Gallagher following, trying to calm her down and attempting to persuade her to return to the scene.
Meanwhile Platt told the teenager to remove her clothes, which she refused.
The girl tried to run away but was dragged back by Platt.
She pleaded with him to stop while had made sexual suggestions and restrained her arms.
Mr Trevor Jones said Platt told the girl that if she did not co-operate, he would kill her.
He later straddled her, kissing her forcibly on the lips before prising open her legs and raping her, the court heard.
She was screaming and her cries could be heard by staff at the nearby hotel.
The receptionist called police.
By the time Mr Gallagher returned, Platt and the girl were standing up.
Even then, as she staggered off, the defendant ran after her and punched her to the back of the head.
An intensive police search followed.
But Platt had left the area, leaving his coat at a nearby house.
Police interviewed him - but he initially denied any involvement.
Then he was shown CCTV footage which placed him in the vicinity.
Eventually he accepted the girl's allegations and broke down, apologising for what he had done.
Michael Davies said Platt had "an awful lot to drink" that night and had taken drugs.
He could not even remember what had happened but had admitted his guilt.
"He is horrified to think of what he has done and the damage he has done, and the impact it has had on this girl," said Mr Davies.
