Rapist gets seven years

A Telford man was today sent to prison for seven years for the "brutal and degrading" rape of a woman in her hotel room in Scotland.

Paul Aaron Richards, 33, of Trevithick Close, Madeley, claimed the woman had consented to sex with him at the Dumfries Premier Inn last summer, but he was found guilty by a jury at Edinburgh High Court.

The court heard how Richards attacked the 37-year-old woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, on July 17 last year.

His victim had been drinking and Richards offered to walk her to her hotel room.

She had previously told the court that Richards, a delivery installation worker, initially seemed to be charming company but as soon as he got into her hotel room he launched into a violent sexual attack.

The woman told the jury: "I remember having a conversation with him in the hotel room trying to talk him out of things."

Mr Derek Ogg QC, prosecuting, asked her: "Did you find him attractive. Did you flirt with him?"

The woman replied: "No. I tried to talk him out of it, saying I was too old for him."

The court heard the woman was left distressed after the rape.

Richards, who denied rape, claimed that the woman had agreed to sex with him.

Lord Pentland sentenced Richards to seven years imprisonment backdated to August 17 this year.

Lord Pentland also placed Richards on the Sex Offenders' Register.