ELLESMERE PORT MAN JAILED FOR RAPE AFTER TEARFUL VICTIM SPEAKS OUT
A mum tearfully told her rapist "you didn't listen to me when I said no, but you will listen now" as he was jailed for the harrowing crime he subjected her to.Louis Cooper chillingly told his victim that he "liked it when she was squirming" after the brutal sexual assault.
When he then learned that he had injured her as a result of his attack, he callously laughed in her face.
While he continues to deny committing the offence, she has now told her abuser: "That day changed everything about me.
The person I was before this happened died that day." A trial at Liverpool Crown Court prosecuting by Matthew Dunford previously heard that Cooper, of Rossmore Road East in Ellesmere Port, was having consensual sex with the complainant when, without warning, he changed the position.
While she told him "Louis, no" and attempted to force him off her, the 30-year-old instead held her down and continued to rape her.
Jurors were told that she was unable to "say or do anything" and "couldn't move" as a result of Cooper's actions.
Afterwards, he was reported to have told her: "Halfway through that, I realised I was raping you.
I kind of liked it when you were squirming though." Cooper was later said to have "simply laughed" when he realised she had been injured as a result of the assault and later sent her a text referencing it.
She appeared tearful in the witness box on Friday as she told the court in a statement: "What he did to me didn't end when it was over.
That day changed everything about me.
"The person I was before this happened died that day.
People hear the word rape and think it's just one moment.
It became my whole life.
It followed me into my home, my job and sleep until nothing felt normal any more." "I stopped trusting people.
I became frightened of the world.
My mental health deteriorated to the point that I tried to take my own life three times.
I was not coping, I was not functioning and I was not surviving.
I lost my confidence, independence and sense of self.
I had to leave my job and move house in order to feel safe again.
It still follows me every day." "Louis Cooper didn't just hurt me, he scarred me.
He took my peace, confidence and safety.
He took years of my life.
Surviving is not the same as living.
This was not something I could just move on from.
It followed me into every day and every part of my life." "It didn't just only happen to me.
My children watched their mum disappear.
They watched me deteriorate, cry and shut down.
They've lived with the aftermath of something they should never have been touched by.
I wanted to protect them from everything, and I couldn't protect them from the things he did to me." "My family have lived with this for years too, living with the fear that, one day, they would lose me.
I will carry the impact of this for the rest of my life.
This is for you Louis.
You didn't listen to me when I said no, but you will listen now.
This was rape, this was abuse and it nearly killed me." Cooper has one previous conviction, being handed three years behind bars in 2020 for a drug trafficking offence.
Defence lawyer Mark Connor said on his behalf: "He has no previous convictions for any violence at all.
He has no previous convictions for any sexual offence.
This appears to be an isolated incident.
While on bail for a significant period of time, he committed no further offences.
This is not a case that calls for an extended determinate sentence.
Mr Cooper knows that he will receive a significant sentence of imprisonment.
I ask your honour to pass the least possible sentence commensurate with the seriousness of these offences." Cooper was convicted of rape by a jury.
Appearing via video link to HMP Liverpool wearing a grey Under Armour sweatshirt and sporting short dark hair and a beard, he nodded as he was jailed for eight years and handed an additional four years on licence.
Judge Brian Cummings KC said: "It is apparent that you continue to deny the rape.
It is apparent, more than three years on from the offence, that her thoughts continue to be dominated by the rape, and her life has been severely adversely affected.
It cannot be said that this is your first experience of custody.
It is, of course, now your second such experience.
I take account of the character evidence presented on your behalf.
It is apparent that there is a better side to your character." "I take account of the fact that you have a young child.
That is always a tragic aspect of any case where a court has to impose a prison sentence." "I am afraid, notwithstanding the submissions made by Mr Connor, my own assessment, having observed the evidence given in the trial in your case, including your own evidence, is that there is a significant risk of serious harm being occasioned to members of the public by the commission by you of further specified offences.
I am not satisfied that a determinate prison sentence will be sufficient, and the sentence in your case will be an extended licence sentence." Cooper was also handed a restraining order which will ban him from contacting his victim for life.
He will be required to sign the sex offenders' register indefinitely.
