Description
THE GRANDSON of a former prison governor will get another taste of jail life after he was locked up for raping a young woman.
William Thorpe, formerly of Bowyers Lane, Warfield, Bracknell Forest, has already spent time inside having assaulted the woman before he raped her in 2019.
The 20-year-old will now spend at least three years and nine months in prison, however, after he was found guilty of rape following a trial in October 2021.
Reading Crown Court heard how Thorpe raped the woman at his Reading flat on August 6, 2019, when he was 18-years-old.
She had made her way to his home to collect shoes and money Thorpe owed her at around 9 pm that evening but left without either item 20 minutes later.
In that intervening period, Thorpe raped the woman.
Reading Crown Court heard how he placed his hands on her throat during the incident and then emotionally blackmailed her by threatening to harm himself with a knife afterwards.
His Honour Judge Burgess said: This was a violent act of domination intended to assert power during the incident.
The judge added that the incident left the woman was extremely distressed and she immediately called two of her friends afterwards.
They helped her to make a report to the police and Thorpe was arrested in the early hours of August 7.
He claimed he and the woman had had consensual sex and maintained his innocence buta a jury dismissed his denials in last years trial.
Sentencing, the judge told the court of Thorpes previous convictions, which included two counts of assault against the woman he raped back in May 2019 and a further conviction for three battery offences against a different woman in February and April 2020.
For these offences, he has already spent four-and-a-half months in prison.
But Judge Burgess opted against handing Thorpe an extended sentence following his rape conviction and instead opted for a 7.5-year prison term.