Newcastle driver who raped stranger he gave lift to jailed
- Published
Piotr Gradecki was found guilty of three offences including rape
A rapist who assaulted a stranger he gave a lift home to after a night out has been jailed for eight years.
Piotr Gradecki, 39, had been hunting for a "sexual encounter" when he met two very drunk and "vulnerable" women.
Newcastle Crown Court heard that after dropping them off, he went into their house uninvited and raped one of them.
He was handed a further five years extended licence having been found guilty of rape and two counts of assault by penetration.
'Helpless to resist'
The court heard Gradecki had left his wife and children at home to drive around Newcastle on the night of 15 January 2023.
He claimed he was struggling to sleep after working nights, but Judge Julie Clemitson said his story was "implausible" and he had "loitered" for "some form of sexual encounter".
"At worst, you were actively seeking out a lone vulnerable woman to prey upon," the judge said, adding: "At best you took advantage of an opportunity that presented itself to you to violate a vulnerable woman whilst she was helpless to resist."
The court heard he was in his car on Scotswood Road at about 03:00 GMT when the two women approached him to ask for a lift home.
He initially refused but agreed when, after they had tried and failed to find other drivers to help, they asked him again.
'Particularly vulnerable'
He dropped them off but found one of the women had left her phone in the car so he returned to the house, the court heard.
Gradecki, of The Ramparts in Denton, walked into the house uninvited and went upstairs, where he found the two women asleep.
He got one of them into a spare bedroom where he raped and sexually assaulted her, the court heard, before taking a shower and leaving.
The woman who, the judge said, was "particularly vulnerable" and "patently... in no condition to consent" had only a vague recollection of what happened, but believed it was the "taxi driver" who had assaulted her.
Police traced Gradecki after finding CCTV footage of him picking the women up.
He told officers the encounter had been consensual but jurors found him guilty of the offences after a trial.
Judge Clemitson said Gradecki was a "dangerous offender" and presented a "significant and ongoing risk".
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