OBSESSED RAPIST WHO KEPT WOMAN CAPTIVE AS 'SEX SLAVE' JAILED FOR 13 YEARS
An obsessed rapist who kept a woman prisoner to “use her as a sex slave” has been jailed for 13 years.Thomas Patton lured the victim to his home on Leeds Road in Deighton before trapping her, declaring: “Nah, you’re not going anywhere.
This is going to be the worst night of your life.
I’m just gonna beat you and rape you.” The 21-year-old had locked the doors and windows and snapped her mobile phone in half before repeatedly raping and assaulting her.
Judge Mushtaq Khokhar said the young woman, who thought she could not escape, “must have been full of fear and trepidation” during the “nightmare” two-and-a-half days before her dad rescued her.
During a trial last month, a jury found Patton guilty of five counts of rape, one count of false imprisonment and one count of assault occasioning actual bodily harm.
He had pleaded guilty to one count of criminal damage.
Patton, who was remanded in custody after the trial, was not in the courtroom for the sentencing hearing today (Tuesday), with prosecutor Stephen Woods and Judge Khokhar saying it was because he had refused to come out of his cell.
Richard Canning, mitigating, said that his client has issues with the definition of rape.
While being cross-examined during the trial, Patton had said: “How can it have been rape if there was no violence?” The court heard that the probation service deemed Patton a high risk to the victim, but not to the general public.
Judge Khokhar said he had already made a restraining order banning the defendant from contacting the victim, but the Crown Prosecution Service did not apply for a Sexual Harm Prevention Order.
Afterwards, Det Cons Shaun Lewis, of the Kirklees Safeguarding Unit, said: “Patton is a dangerous individual who subjected his victim to a sustained and horrendous ordeal.
“Patton’s conviction for what can only be described as horrendous crimes has removed a dangerous, obsessed sexual predator from our streets.
It was evident that he had planned to commit these offences against the victim and if she had not been brave enough to come forward he would have continued to offend.” He added: “I would like to praise the victim, who has showed immense bravery throughout the whole criminal process, and hope that today’s sentence allows her to get some closure to her ordeal.
She has been supported by specially trained officers since she came forward to the police to report the offences.”
