MAN JAILED OVER RAPE AND ASSAULT
*update A prisoner who killed his cellmate by using a shattered bottle of aftershave has received a life sentence.Liam Deane, aged 22 and from Wakefield, was discovered dead in his cell at HMP Leeds early on 12 November.
He was imprisoned for the murder of his two-day-old daughter, committed in October of the previous year.
John Westland, 29, who was serving time for rape and grievous bodily harm, was convicted of Deane’s murder following a trial at Leeds Crown Court.
He will be required to serve at least 19 years before becoming eligible for parole.
------------------------------------------------------------------- A 19-year-old man has confessed to raping and assaulting a woman in her 50s after meeting her at a nightclub.
During a hearing at Oxford Crown Court, it was revealed that John Westland left his victim with severe injuries, including a broken jaw, following the assault on August 17.
Westland, a resident of Fairfield Place in Abingdon, Oxfordshire, has a record of previous convictions related to attacking older women, the court was informed.
He was sentenced to a minimum term of three years and three months in prison.
The court also heard that the woman was punched in the face and badly hurt before managing to escape and contact emergency services.
Authorities later found her in a state of shock and with extensive bruising.
It was disclosed during the proceedings that last year Westland was imprisoned in Hamburg, Germany, for assaulting a 70-year-old woman cyclist.
In his sentencing remarks, Judge Patrick Eccles described Westland as a "predatory male." He added, "Your prior record, which includes multiple sexual offence convictions, is a very troubling aspect of your history." Outside the courtroom, Detective Constable Rob Underhill, who led the investigation, stated: "Westland carried out this terrifying attack on a stranger.
He is a highly dangerous sexual offender who has now been removed from the community for a significant period."
