Matthew Brown 29

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A university student from Derbyshire violently raped a woman and left her fearing she would die at his hands. Derby Crown Court heard how Matthew Brown head-butted, punched and then choked the victim unconscious as he sexually and physically attacked her.

The 27-year-old then denied what he had done, which forced the brave victim to come to court and relive her ordeal by giving evidence in the witness box. But after hearing both sides of the story the jury found the Ashbourne man guilty of three counts of rape.

Jailing him for 16 years, Recorder Jason Macadam said: “You violently attacked and sexually assaulted (the victim) in a number of ways. The jury were sure the account given by the victim was a true account - that violence was meted out when you carried out this sex attack.

“(In your pre-sentence report) you still sought to minimise your assault, accepting that sexual activity took place and that (during it) you were violent towards your victim.

“Mr Wilson (his barrister) tells me that you feel awful about what you did but you could have spared the victim the ordeal (of giving evidence). You did not, you had a trial and during it you ran an entirely different account which did not accept culpability for the crime you committed.“(The victim's) account of what happened was horrific. She said you raped her in a number of ways and during it you assaulted, headbutted and punched her.

“She said you choked her to the point of unconsciousness, she said she believed she would not escape and that you would kill her. I have described her as stoical and she has to be congratulated that this has not had greater consequences on her.

“I found you to be quite deliberately dishonest when you gave your account to the jury. You present a threat of risk or harm to females.”

A trial earlier this year was told that the rape took place at a house in Derbyshire. Prosecutor Jonathan Dee said during it the victim was raped in a number of ways and also assaulted while she was being sexually attacked.

He said: “It was a prolonged and sustained incident and there was violence. She (the victim) is not present in court but I have spoken to her family (who were in court) and they tell me she is getting on with her life but she is understandably very concerned about being alone at night.”

Having heard all of the evidence a jury found Brown, of Shirley Common, Shirley, guilty of three counts of rape.

Roger Wilson, mitigating, said his client “has hope of rehabilitation” when he is released from his prison sentence.

He said: “He was a university student at the time, he was studying medicine and pharmacology at the University of Nottingham. He feels awful about what he did, he regrets it and feels bad about his behaviour. The victim is obviously getting on with her life and he hopes she has not been scarred hugely by this.”

The 16-year sentence is made up of 12 years plus a four-year extended licence. It means Brown will be eligible to apply for parole two thirds of the way through the custodial element - that is to say eight years into his sentence. He was also handed a lifetime sexual harm prevention order and will be on the sex offender register for life.

To protect the anonymity of the victim, comments have been disabled on this story.