Portsmouth 2019-12-14

Darren Callaghan 53

Rapist spiked online date's drink then blamed her 80 injuries on 'demon'.

Profile Picture
Offender ID: O-0376

Locations

Bonchurch Road, Southsea, Hampshire, PO4

Description

Twisted Darren Callaghan, 48, Southsea in Portsmouth, laced his date's drink before claiming she had taken the drugs of her own accord causing her to turn into "like something out of the Exorcist"

A rapist who spiked his victim's drink with ecstasy and blamed her injuries on a 'demon' has been handed a 16 year extended prison sentence.

Darren Callaghan, 48, claimed his victim had became "sex-crazed" after taking MDMA.

And the monster claimed it caused her to act "like something out of the Exorcist."

When she woke semi-naked in the morning, with 80 injuries all over her body, he tried to bizarrely convince her they were caused by supernatural activity.

But a court was told "this was nothing to do with ghosts" and Callaghan had laced her drink with drugs before raping her.

Callaghan was found guilty of rape, administering a noxious substance with intent to stupefy, and assault after a trial at Warwick Crown Court in October.

On Tuesday, he was a given a 16-year extended prison sentence and will only be freed if the Parole Board considers it safe to do so.

Callaghan will then be on licence for any period that remains of his sentence and for a further five years as well as having to register as a sex offender for life.

Sentencing, Judge Andrew Lockhart QC said the case was one of "the most appalling pieces of violence associated with rape that the court has witnessed in many years."

He told Callaghan: "Your actions have as good as ruined her life.

"You met her on a dating website. You brought drugs with you and were keen to give them to her.

"It was a powerful form of MDMA, and you well knew it would have a massive impact on someone not used to taking it.

"You gave her such drugs with a view that she would be incapacitated.

"This was to be sex for your own perverse and twisted desire, and sex where you could beat and abuse her.

"You said she had had a seizure and that her home was possessed. This was a cruel aspect of your behaviour.

"You showed yourself to be a dangerous and manipulative man."

Throughout the hearing Callaghan, of Southsea, Hants., interrupted the judge by loudly proclaiming his innocence.

Kim Preston, defending, said: "He feels passionately and indignantly about his version of events.

"He had a distortion in his mind about whether she was able to consent during the intercourse which took place.

"This defendant did not set out that night to go to her home and assault and rape her."

But Judge Lockhart QC added: "That may be your assessment. You must be mindful that my assessment is different, and the jury's finding is very different."

The court had heard Callaghan drove 140 miles from the south coast to meet the woman in Rugby, Warks., for a date after they met on the internet.

Prosecutor Adrian Fleming said "Darren Callaghan, while out with someone he had met over the internet, spiked her drink with MDMA, or ecstasy.

"He put it in her drink without her knowledge and, having done that, he assaulted her causing a number of injuries, and he raped her while she was in a state partly brought about by the administering of the drug.

"The combination of the spiked drink and the large amount of alcohol she had had to drink left her incapable of consenting to sex."

He explained that Callaghan had met the woman through a dating app.

During their online chats they talked about sex and he even sent her an intimate picture of himself.

Mr Fleming said: "They got on so well that an arrangement was made for him to travel up to Rugby for a face-to-face meeting."

She said he became "a little boisterous" and got physical when he arrived at her house, trying to pull her trousers down, until she told him to stop.

The pair then visited various pubs in Rugby, where she had five or more glasses of wine before they got a taxi back to her house.

When they got back she recalled Callaghan making them both a Jack Daniels and Coke, despite her feeling "pretty drunk".

Mr Fleming added "She thought her drink tasted a bit funny, and soon after she began to feel unwell and had some sort of seizure.

"She recalls falling down and her memories after that are vague. It's the Crown's case that he had put MDMA in her drink. She is very clear she did not take it knowingly.

"Although the defendant has admitted giving her a small amount of MDMA, he says it was at her request.

"The next thing she recalls is waking late the following morning, naked apart from her bra, and Callaghan lying next to her, naked.

"She was aware she had injuries all over her body, and she asked if he had punched her in the face.

"He said no, and that she was possessed and that there was a demon in her house.

"But it's the Crown's case that this ghost had nothing to do with what happened.

"She says Callaghan appeared to be trying to blame her injuries on the supernatural.

"The inescapable fact is that somehow she got very real injuries all over her body. This was nothing to do with ghosts.

"She has no recollection of having sex with him whatsoever. If she was incapable, any sex he had with her was rape."

After the case, Detective Inspector Cindy Stephenson, of Warwickshire Police, said: "This was a horrific crime that has had a profound impact on the victim.

"While I am sure she will never fully get over what Callaghan did, I hope she can take some comfort from this verdict and start to move on with her life."

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