Rapist Billy Rutter jailed for breaking teenager's arm

Billy Rutter's offending started when he was 11 and includes rape

A convicted rapist who broke a teenager's arm on the victim's 18th birthday has been jailed.

Billy Rutter, 36, attacked the youth in a Carlisle street after the boy accidentally bumped into a woman, the city's crown court heard.

Rutter, whose offending went back to when he was 11 and included a rape conviction, admitted wounding.

He was jailed for six months. His victim said he feared going for a night out in Carlisle again.

'Snapped my arm'

The court heard the victim was walking along Botchergate in the early hours of 9 September when he bumped into a woman he had been talking to.

When the woman remarked that her bottom had been touched, the teen immediately offered an apology that was accepted by her, the court heard.

But Rutter got right into his face and screamed in an aggressive manner, then when challenged to "do something" by the victim pushed him to ground.

Rutter then attempted to land a blow as the victim lay on the floor with the teenager saying he "snapped my arm".

The victim needed surgery to repair fractures to both bones in his right forearms and was left unable to dress or shower himself for weeks afterwards, the court heard.

'Very sorry'

In a statement read to the court, the teenager said he did "not feel safe" going out in Carlisle again, adding: "I would not be able to relax and the thought of it puts me on edge.

"This is not the way an 18-year-old lad should be feeling after only experiencing one night out with his mother and friends."

Rutter, of no fixed address, surrendered himself to police in the North East four days after the attack.

The court heard he had 37 offences on his record, the first committed in 1999 and another, also as a juvenile, for rape.

He was sentenced to nine years' detention for that sex crime, was jailed for six years in 2012 for assault with intent to rob and had since been handed other jail terms in the Liverpool area.

In mitigation, Mark Shepherd said Rutter was "very sorry" for the attack on the teenager and the "potential consequences (the victim) may have moving forward".