Fareham rape: Man jailed for attacking woman on footbridge

A judge told John Horne he had "terrorised" his victim

A man who raped a woman when she became separated from friends after a night out has been jailed for nine years.

John Horne attacked the 22-year-old on a footbridge in Fareham, Hampshire, in the early hours of 19 March.

The woman was on the phone to her friends when Horne grabbed her, ended the call and began a "prolonged" assault, Portsmouth Crown Court heard.

The 39-year-old had admitted charges of rape and assault occasioning actual bodily harm at an earlier hearing.

Horne was told he was considered a dangerous offender so would serve at least two-thirds of his sentence behind bars.

John Horne was identified on a supermarket's CCTV on the night of the attack

The attack prompted a major police appeal in which Horne, of Broadacre Place in Fareham, was identified in CCTV.

Following his arrest, the father-of-one told officers he "wanted to see what you've got on me" before responding to questions in an interview, the court heard.

Officers had uncovered his fingerprint on the woman's phone, which he left behind when he swiped the device to prevent her from being able to speak to her friends.

The court heard Horne now accepted the victim's account of what happened and, in a statement, said: "I hate myself for what I have done - I don't want to make any excuses."

A statement from the victim read to the court said she had been a "smiley" character before the attack, but now suffered with daily anxiety and feared she would "never be my normal self again".

The woman was raped on a footbridge near Fareham train station

Judge Richard Shepherd said the woman had been enjoying her evening out before being attacked.

"As happens from time to time, a young woman became separated from her friends and you exploited that separation," he told Horne.

"You deliberately isolated her so you could commit these horrendous offences.

"You attacked her, you threatened her and her family, you terrorised her throughout this ordeal.

"You punched her to the face, you raped her.

"You have robbed this young woman of what should have been a carefree and safe young adulthood."