Description
A twisted sexual predator took a teenage woman's knickers as a trophy after trying to rape her.
Shakur Valentino put his hand over the mouth of the 18-year-old victim "to silence her protests" as she screamed for help only for a friend to intervene.
But after he was arrested, he was released by police and just weeks later raped a gran near London's Piccadilly Circus.
Valentino was previously jailed for 12 years, with an extended five years on licence, for raping that woman, who was in her 60s.
Today he was hit with a further five and a half years in jail, with an extended two years, for the attempted rape of his first victim.
Judge Louise Brandon said "a disturbing feature" of both cases was that he "took trophies in the form of items as a reminder of your offending".
Valentino, 23, from St Helens, denied raping the teenager, but on the day she was due to give pre-recorded evidence for a trial, admitted attempted rape.
Philip Astbury, prosecuting, said: "It's an attempted rape that comes as close to the full offence as the prosecution say could be imagined."
Liverpool Crown Court heard the victim and two friends met Valentino, then 21, on a night out in St Helens in the early hours of December 9, 2018.
Mr Astbury said the woman and Valentino "were attracted to one another" and the group got a taxi back to the victim's dad's house.
At around 5.30am, the victim and Valentino went into a bedroom and had sex, but they stopped, she put on a dressing gown and left the room.
She told her friends she was "tired" and keen to get some sleep before getting up for work, but when she returned to bed, Valentino "wanted more sex".
Mr Astbury said: "She told him no as she was tired... the defendant refused to take no for an answer."
He said Valentino forced her onto her back and she "protested and told him no, she wanted to go to sleep", but he climbed on top of her.
She tried to fight him off but he was "simply too strong" and when she cried out "he placed his hand over her mouth" to "silence her protests".
Mr Astbury said she believed he raped her, but the prosecution after consulting with the victim took the "pragmatic decision" to accept he didn't.
He said a friend heard her cries and entered the room to find Valentino on top of her.
Valentino "jumped up" and the victim escaped, so frightened that she "ran from the house wearing only her dressing gown and hid behind a parked van in the street".
Her friend confronted Valentino, who accused the victim of being "mental" and left before police arrived.
Officers arrested him nearby, but he claimed any sex was consensual and the victim was "off her head" on alcohol, cocaine and ketamine.
Mr Astbury said a toxicology report refuted these claims.
He said: "Officers found the complainant's knickers hidden in his boxer shorts."
The prosecutor added: "He did accept he had deliberately taken her knickers when getting dressed, but was unable to explain why he had done that."
Mr Astbury said the woman was now receiving counselling and revealed how the attack affected "how she sees others and how it affects her in public places".
Valentino was previously convicted of assault causing actual bodily harm in 2017.
In June 2019 he admitted two counts of rape, two counts of sexual assault, kidnapping and assault causing actual bodily harm, relating to an attack at around 3.30am on February 4, 2019.
Mr Astbury said Valentino pursued a cleaner walking to work through the west end of London and shouted at her.
He said Valentino grabbed her by the hair, dragged her into an alley and raped her, then threatened a homeless man who tried to intervene.
The rapist carried on but the witness raised the alarm and police arrested Valentino as he fled.
Valentino claimed that victim was a prostitute and any sex was consensual, but Mr Astbury said it was all captured on CCTV.
The footage showed him "hanging around" Piccadilly Circus for around an hour and approaching three other women.
Mr Astbury said this attack was around eight weeks after the first and it appeared Valentino had been released under investigation by police.
Judge Brandon raised Valentino taking clothing in both incidents, to which Cheryl Mottram, defending, confirmed he took the gran's leggings.
Ms Mottram suggested when police arrived the leggings were "taken more out of haste to escape than as a trophy or a trinket".
She said a psychiatric report made clear Valentino "suffered significant traumatic experiences" as a young child that impacted on his thinking.
Ms Mottram said: "There is of course the significant incident in relation to his grandmother, which caused the upheaval of the family being relocated. He had to change his name and he was initially in protective custody."
She said Valentino, who displayed "inappropriate behaviour" in school, was also "abused" by people meant to be looking after him and this was a case of "the abused becomes the abuser".
Ms Mottram said her client now accepted in the bedroom "it was almost like he had switched off to what she was saying to him".
She said he expressed "genuine remorse", his mum and siblings remain supportive, and he hoped to tackle his issues.
Judge Brandon told Valentino he made derogatory remarks about both victims after his attacks, which "disclosed your deep seated and disgraceful attitude to women and you thinking you can do whatever you want, whenever you want, when dealing with women".
The judge said having read the psychological report, she struggled to accept he was genuinely remorseful.
She said it was clear he had been affected by childhood traumas, adding: "You are a very damaged young man."
However, she said he was also "a very dangerous young man".
Judge Brandon said his behaviour was "impulsive and unpredictable", adding: "There remains a complete denial on your part that your actions on either occasion were wrong."
She said more than two years later, his first victim still struggled to sleep because of the "terrifying" attack and no longer stays over at her dad's home.
Judge Brandon said: "It is always on her mind and it continues to impact her ability to live in the way she should be able to do so."
The judge made the sentence consecutive to his existing term, meaning Valentino will have to serve almost 12 years at least behind bars, before he can apply for parole.