Neil Cauchi 35

Description

This is the controlling rapist who held a woman hostage for weeks and tortured her with needles. Neil Cauchi is starting a 19 year jail sentence for the horrific crimes he committed against the woman.

Over the course of nearly two months she was falsely imprisoned in a house in Salford, where he raped her and subjected her to cruel and terrifying attacks. After an argument, Cauchi, 33, tied her to a bed before he began slapping, punching and hitting her legs with a 'heavy object'. She had been tied up so long that her hands turned purple.

Knowing she had a phobia of needles, he also jabbed her legs with hypodermic needles which he had used to administer steroids. At one point he threatened to stick a needle in her eye.

While she was falsely imprisoned, Cauchi raped and sexually assaulted her. She was no longer tied up but was too scared to leave the house in Eccles due to threats he made.

The woman was eventually rescued from her ordeal. Cauchi, of no fixed address, was found guilty of two counts of rape, two counts of false imprisonment, one count of causing actual bodily harm and one count of sexual assault after a trial.

The judge said Cauchi had 'effectively tortured' his victim with the needles, and he had 'held her hostage' for weeks. He admitted witness intimidation in relation to another woman, who had accused him of 'abuse'.

Cauchi bombarded the woman with up to 200 calls a day over a seven day period telling her to retract her statement, which she later did. At his sentencing hearing Cauchi read a letter to the court, saying he was 'deeply sorry' and 'ashamed' of his behaviour.

"I am disgusted with myself," he said. "May God help me find peace." His barrister said Cauchi is now a 'quite different person' now after becoming clean of drugs.

Cauchi will serve two-thirds of his 19 year sentence in prison.