Rapist offered girl, 17, lift home before attack

Rhys Conn was found guilty of offences including rape

A rapist who attacked a teenage girl after offering her a lift home from a party has been jailed for 11 years.

Rhys Conn, 33, took the 17-year-old victim to his house and ignored her pleas for him to stop as raped her, Newcastle Crown Court heard.

The victim said she "could not believe someone would do something so evil".

Conn, from Blackhall Colliery, near Hartlepool, had denied wrongdoing but was found guilty of six offences including two counts of rape and three of sexual assault.

Prosecutor Jane Waugh said he got the victim into his van "by fraud" and took her to his house instead of hers, which was akin to an abduction.

Ms Waugh said Conn "stalked" the victim over the course of the night and told her to "shut up" when she asked him to stop attacking her.

Philip Morley, for Conn, disputed the prosecution's claims and said it was not a "true case of abduction" as the victim had "willingly" got out of the van and gone into the rapist's home.

'Very dark place'

In a statement read to the court, the victim said she had been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and had been too afraid to leave her home in the aftermath.

She said it took her a long time to understand that she was not to blame for what happened, adding: "I cannot believe someone would do something so evil to me."

Judge Carolyn Scott said Conn's actions were "disgraceful" and the girl's pleas for him to stop had had "absolutely no effect" on the rapist.

Having been taken to Conn's house instead of her own, the teenager was "scared" and "completely out of her depth and unable to get herself out of the situation", the judge said.

The attack had had a "significant" impact on the victim and left her in a "very dark place", the judge said, adding she would "have to live with what you did to her for the rest of her life".

On the issue of whether it was an abduction in legal terms, which could have increased the sentence, Judge Scott said there was no doubt the girl had wanted to go home but "abduction envisages a different and more serious scenario", such as someone being bundled into a van and taken away.

A restraining order banning Conn from contacting the victim or making any reference to her on social media was also made and he must sign the sex offenders register for the rest of his life.