RAPE AND CHILD INDECENT IMAGES OFFENDER SENTENCED TO OVER SIX YEARS IN WARRINGTON

A RAPIST who assaulted a young woman attempting to help him on a bridge in Warrington has been sentenced to prison

Rhys Fowler, aged 26 and from Grangemoor in Runcorn, appeared at Liverpool Crown Court and was found guilty of two counts of rape following a trial in June.

The court heard that in 2017, Fowler, then 17, was intoxicated when he committed his first rape.

During this incident, Fowler forcibly raped a woman who had told him she did not want to engage in intimacy, responding with 'tough s**t,' and pinning her down before stopping.

On October 15, 2018, Fowler was on a bridge in Warrington where he threatened to commit suicide. A woman tried to help him, but Fowler told her not to touch him.

After climbing back onto the bridge, Fowler demanded his hoodie back from her, threatening her to perform oral sex in order to retrieve it, which she refused.

He then proceeded to rape her while she was left partially undressed.

Fowler was later arrested in 2023 after distributing indecent images of children and possessing further such images and extreme pornography on his mobile phone, including one Category A video, 18 Category C images and one video, plus several prohibited images depicting children aged between five and 15.

Despite pleading guilty to distributing and possessing indecent images, he denied the counts of rape but was convicted by a jury.

At his sentencing, Fowler received six years and five months of immediate imprisonment, must follow a sexual harm prevention order, and will be on the sex offenders register for life.

The judge highlighted the victim's suffering and Fowler's immaturity at 26, noting that his past actions took place when he was even younger and immature, and emphasised the impact on the victim, who described feeling angry, dirty, and as though her life had been stolen from her.