Description
A crack cocaine addict is beginning a 20-year jail sentence for the double rape of a woman which only came to light after a police officer noticed bruising on her forehead.
Lee Murphy, 49, was found guilty of attacking his victim and raping her by a jury after a trial at Teesside Crown Court. He was arrested after an officer was speaking to the victim, who can't be identified for legal reasons, about an unrelated incident.
On Monday, prosecutor Robert Mochrie said that "the officer noticed bruising to the woman's forehead and asked her questions." The victim told police that she had been attacked and forced her to have sex twice. She had been too scared to report what had happened to the police.
Mr Mochrie said that when officers went to arrest Murphy, he initially tried to jump out of a window before hiding in a storage cupboard. Murphy has 39 previous convictions for 85 offences, which include violent offending but he has never committed a sex offence before. The court heard that he has a crack cocaine addiction.
Sentencing Murphy, Judge Jonathan Carroll told him: "You are a man who has an entrenched dysfunctional attitude towards women. This sexual violence was as much driven by your need to have power and control over your victim, as the need to have sexual power."
The judge handed Murphy, from Middlesbrough, a 20-year extended prison term. The sentence is made up of 16-years in prison and an extended licence period of four-years, which Murphy will serve out in the community.
He was made subject to sex offender notification requirements for the rest of his life and and an indefinite restraining order prohibiting him from contacting his victim, ever again.
After the sentencing, Detective Chief Inspector Simone Bennett, of the Domestic Abuse Unit, said: “No one should have to succumb to such violent and despicable crimes that Murphy committed against his victim. His actions towards the victim in this case were nothing less than inhumane and cruel, which I have no doubt will have a lasting impact on the victim’s life.
“I would like to take this opportunity to thank the victim in this case for her bravery. She has not only took that unimaginable critical step to come forward to report these incidents to police, she has also lived through this distressing time all over again throughout the trial. Without the victim demonstrating such courage Murphy would not have been convicted of these heinous crimes.”
“I would also like to thank the team for their hard work and tenacity and the jury in this case, which has resulted in Murphy receiving a lengthy sentence in prison where he belongs.”