Description
A Plymouth man who filmed himself attacking and raping a woman has been jailed. Jamie Baker, 38, of no fixed abode, appeared at Plymouth Crown Court on Friday, June 28, where he was sentenced to 12 years in prison.
The court heard how Baker was convicted on June 6 of two counts of rape and one of false imprisonment following a trial. During the trial, the jury was told how, in May last year, Baker had called the victim, who was known to him, and demanded that she go and see him at a property in Plymouth, falsely claiming that she had stolen from him.
Baker, who the jury had been told had taken cocaine, shut her in a room and blocked the door with a chair, jamming the handle with a DVD player and barricading the door so she could not escape and no-one else could enter. He dragged her around the room by her hair, before pushing her face down on a sofa, putting his knee into her back and then tied her hands behind her back with a tea towel.
He continued the attack despite her pleading with him to stop. The jury heard that he was wearing gloves at the time and put loud music on to drown out his victim's cries and screams. He then slapped her face, pushed her around and then shoved her over another chair, raping her twice.
The court heard the woman was crying and begging him to stop, whereupon he told her "f***ing shut up". She was left in agony and bleeding from her painful ordeal. He then pushed her onto the sofa and, as prosecutors explained, sought to "humiliate" her by ejaculating onto her face.
Only afterwards did he reveal to her that he had filmed the entire attack and the rapes on his phone, showing her the footage when she disbelieved him. Baker denied all the offences, but was found guilty of two counts of rape and one of false imprisonment and not guilty of 16 offences other against the same victim.
The lead investigator in the case, Detective Constable Kate Dure, read the victim impact statement to the court, where the woman explained that it had taken her "almost a year to be able to say out loud or even to read it or write". She wrote how even thinking about it still made her "feel sick".
She said she struggled to put into words the "hurt, the anger and the guilt" she felt every day and that her life had "changed completely and I can't even explain how".
Addressing Baker, she wrote: "What you have done to me is soul-destroying. You have caused me severe psychological damage."
She said she has been left having "nightmares and panic attacks" and felt that she was "a failure" as "a woman".
The court heard that Baker had previous convictions for football-related violence, aggravated burglary and drug dealing.
Judge Peter Johnson told Baker that his pre-sentence report revealed that he still denied the offence, claiming that it was consensual. He said the effect on his victim was clear from her victim impact statement.
Judge Johnson told Baker he would be jailed for 12 years for the rapes, to run concurrently, and two years for the false imprisonment, also to run concurrently. He said he would serve two-thirds of the sentence before he was released on licence. Judge Johnson said Baker would also be subject of a indefinite restraining order meaning he can never contact his victim again.
DC Dure, from the Sexual Offences Investigation Team, said: "First and foremost I want to praise the bravery of the victim for coming forward to report such a vicious and heinous crime and for supporting the police investigation. We welcome the sentence passed by the judge and I hope the outcome today gives others the courage to come forward and report offences to us. We will listen and you will be heard."