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Liverpool Echo
Liverpool Echo
National
Neil Docking

Woman woke to find 'horrible monster' raping her

A "horrible monster" raped a woman then tried to intimidate the person she disclosed the attack to.

Barry Worrall entered a room when his victim was sleeping and started kissing her, before she woke up and told him to stop.

But when the woman went back to sleep, she woke again to find Worrall, 36, of Gleneagles Drive, Haydock, raping her.

READ MORE: Woman punched and kicked by friend who demanded sex act

Judge Robert Trevor-Jones today said: "She pleaded with you to stop. She attempted to struggle physically with you, but you carried on regardless."

A trial at Liverpool Crown Court heard how Worrall simply walked off after the rape and smoked a cigarette.

The woman disclosed the attack to a female relative, which led to a complaint being made to the police.

The victim later told officers: "I told him to get off me, and he wouldn't, he was just carrying on. And all I could smell was sweat.

"I was trying to get him off me but I just... I couldn't, I just could not get him off me cos he had that much force onto the top."

Worrall was arrested by police, but gave a no comment interview and was released on bail.

Robert Dudley, prosecuting, said the rapist then intimidated the woman's relative, who was a prosecution witness.

He did this by driving past her home, rolling down the window of his car and shouting: "You f***ing rat, you're f***ing dead."

When arrested again, he denied driving past her home and said he couldn't have done because he had been in a crash, which meant his car had been written off.

However, detectives spoke to his insurers, who confirmed the only crash they were aware of happened after the alleged intimidation.

Worrall denied the rape but was found guilty after a trial. He pleaded guilty to witness intimidation shortly before the trial began.

Mr Dudley today read a statement from his rape victim, in which she described Worrall as a "horrible monster".

The woman said she struggles with "daily flashbacks", has had nightmares every night since the attack and is now undergoing counselling.

The victim said she was given different types of medication but none helped and what he did to her "makes me feel anxious and weak".

She described how she "blacks out" a lot, little things trigger memories of the rape, she can't relax, is anxious around men and suffers from panic attacks.

The court heard Worrall has 40 previous convictions, including possession of offensive weapons, criminal damage, public order offences, shoplifting, harassment and breaching court orders.

Ben Jones, defending, accepted a psychiatric report didn't show any link between his client's mental health issues and the rape, but said it did identify a mental health background "some of it self-inflicted, some of it long term in origin".

Judge Robert Trevor-Jones said he had to consider whether Worrall's mental health problems affected his responsibility for the rape and therefore the length of sentence he would impose.

He said the psychiatric report dealt with his "long term drug use, cannabis and cocaine", referred to him being diagnosed with anxiety and depression and receiving antidepressants, which "appears to be cannabis related", but found no link between this and his attack.

The judge added: "I notice of course you still maintain your innocence."

He said the psychiatrist diagnosed him with "mild learning problems" and "paranoia induced by cannabis misuse", but concluded his sentence shouldn't be adjusted to reflect this.

Judge Trevor-Jones said Worrall had caused his victim "very significant" psychological harm as he jailed him for seven years for the rape.

Worrall, who appeared via video link from jail, showed no emotion and appeared to tell a prison officer the hearing had finished, when the link was then switched off.

However, the judge then handed him a further two months in prison for the witness intimidation, to be served consecutively, and said he must sign on the Sex Offenders Register for life.

Anyone with information or wants to report a sexual offence is asked to call 101 where you will be spoken to by specially trained officers or you can pass information to Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111.

Support for victims is also available through the registered charity the Rape and Sexual Abuse Support Centre Cheshire and Merseyside, who can be contacted on 01925 221 546 or 0330 363 0063, or Rape and Sexual Assault Merseyside (RASA) on 0151 558 1801.

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