OFFENDER JAILED FOR RAPE AND INTIMIDATION AFTER VICTIM'S REPORT
A "bully" who attempted to prevent a woman from reporting he had raped her has been sentenced to seven years in prison.Preston Moralee, 29, physically confronted his victim in a "foaming rage" one day after subjecting her to an "angry and aggressive" assault, Newcastle Crown Court was told.
The woman described feeling like a "shell" of her former self following the attack, but expressed hope to recover with support from friends, family, and counselling.
Moralee, residing in Kendal Gardens in Wallsend, denied the allegations but was convicted by a jury of rape and perverting the course of justice.
The judge, Tim Gittins, described Moralee as a "bully" who fluctuated between "self-pity and aggression." The court found that the attack was an "out and out rape from the start," and that Moralee knew the woman was not consenting, noting the assault was carried out in an "angry and aggressive way." The day after the attack, fearing the woman would report it, Moralee allegedly grabbed her by the throat in a "foaming rage." In a statement read aloud in court, the victim revealed that Moralee lied about her during the trial, causing her further pain, hurt, and anxiety, and she expressed being "petrified" of him remaining out of prison.
She stated, "I feel like a shell of the person I used to be," but with support and counselling, she believed she could return to her previous cheerful self.
The judge acknowledged that Moralee, who had previously been acquitted of raping another woman, caused her "psychological damage," but she was determined to recover.
Additionally, Moralee, who has prior convictions for violence, is required to sign the sex offenders register for life.
