A RAPIST skipped court and went to the pub.
But now Colin Spencer has been told he faces an very substantial prison sentence after he admitted repeatedly raping a teenage girl.
Spencer, 53, had been due to stand trial at Bradford Crown Court on a series of charges including rape, but after discussions with his barrister he left the court building.
A warrant was issued for his arrest and police officers found him drinking in a pub on Tuesday night.
Spencer, of Brighouse, who had been staying at a bail hostel, was brought before Judge Jonathan Durham Hall QC yesterday morning and finally entered guilty pleas to three specimen charges of rape and three allegations of sexual assault.
All the offences involve a teenager who cannot be identified for legal reasons.
Spencer’s barrister Edward Bindloss told the judge that it was a “spur of the moment decision” by his client to leave the court and he was very sorry.
Mr Bindloss said he had told Spencer on Monday that he could be sentenced straight away after entering his guilty pleas and his client had wanted to sort out a few “loose ends”.
Although Spencer himself wanted his case dealing with yesterday, Judge Durham Hall said he needed an assessment from the probation service of the risk he posed to young people.
When Spencer said the case was all about him and he wanted it sorting out, Judge Durham Hall said he had to protect the public from people who posed a real risk to young people and the community and he strongly advised Spencer to co-operate with the probation service in compiling a report.
“You could not be more wrong in thinking this case is just about you,” he told Spencer.
The judge said he would deal with Spencer’s breach of bail offence when he sentences for the sex offences on December 21.
Judge Durham Hall said the probation service were best placed to assess the risk posed by Spencer, but he stated that a very substantial prison sentence was inevitable.
Spencer will remain in custody until his sentence hearing next month.
