A woman raped by the man police dubbed the North Adelaide rapist has told a court her attacker blamed her for the incident, telling her she "shouldn't have walked home alone".
Enfield man Patrick Mark Perkins, 59, pleaded guilty in October 2016 to three counts of rape and one count of assault with intent to rape.
The charges related to two separate attacks — the first on Gover Street in North Adelaide on September 6, 2012, and the second on Pennington Terrace on November 23 of the same year.
Perkins was arrested and charged in 2015, after a "familial" DNA match linked him to the two incidents.
In the District Court today, the victim of Perkins' first attack read a statement detailing the intense trauma and suffering she had endured since being set upon while walking alone.
"I thought I was going to die that night," she said.
"I felt my soul come away from my body."
Perkins 'acknowledges wrongdoing'
The woman said she felt as though she had left her soul behind after the attack, like "a child on a swing" waiting to be picked up.
"[On the night of the attack] he said I shouldn't have walked home alone," she said.
"I haven't been whole since, I wake up covered in sweat, with a racing heart, with pent-up tension in my chest.
"I hear his voice in my head.
"I feel so burdened by guilt and shame, I don't see myself having a future. I think I'm incapable of showing love."
Perkins' defence lawyer Mark Griffin QC told the court his client "acknowledged his wrongdoing" and understood the offending would result in a serious penalty.
"He offers his sincere apologies for the conduct of the offending and for the profound impact [on the victims]," Mr Griffin told the court.
"He has the capacity to return to the community and into a family that, despite the horror of these offences, still support him."
Women need to feel reassured: Prosecutor
Mr Griffin asked the sentencing judge to apply a full 30 per cent discount to any sentence imposed, due to the timing of Perkins' guilty plea.
Prosecutor Mark Norman SC said the offending was "extremely serious" and "premeditated and targeted".
"These were lone, single, young, intoxicated females," he told the court.
"[After the first attack], the defendant was determined to — and did, offend again."
Mr Norman told the court a substantial sentence of imprisonment was needed to protect and reassure the community, particularly women.
Perkins will be sentenced in the District Court on December 18.
