An obsessed rapist who kept a woman prisoner to “use her as a sex slave” has been jailed for 13 years.
Thomas Patton lured the victim to his home on Leeds Road in Deighton before trapping her, declaring: “Nah, you’re not going anywhere. This is going to be the worst night of your life. I’m just gonna beat you and rape you.”
The 21-year-old had locked the doors and windows and snapped her mobile phone in half before repeatedly raping and assaulting her.
Judge Mushtaq Khokhar said the young woman, who thought she could not escape, “must have been full of fear and trepidation” during the “nightmare” two-and-a-half days before her dad rescued her.
During a trial last month, a jury found Patton guilty of five counts of rape, one count of false imprisonment and one count of assault occasioning actual bodily harm. He had pleaded guilty to one count of criminal damage .
Patton, who was remanded in custody after the trial, was not in the courtroom for the sentencing hearing today (Tuesday), with prosecutor Stephen Woods and Judge Khokhar saying it was because he had refused to come out of his cell.
However Richard Canning, defending, said a mistake at the prison meant officers believed he would be appearing via a video link.
Leeds Crown Court heard Patton had threatened to hurt the woman’s family and damage their property if she did not agree to meet him, and assured her they would not be alone.
When she got to his house, the other people quickly left and he trapped her inside.
She banged on the windows and screamed to get attention, but Patton ran over and grabbed her by the mouth and nose, put his arm around her neck and told her to shut up.
Having put his arm around her neck, he threw her on the floor then picked her up and threw her on the sofa, smothering her and causing her to struggle to breathe.
He grabbed her hands and made her hit herself in the face and he even brandished a knife. She was petrified, crying her eyes out, but got him to calm down.
Mr Wood said: “He told her he would rape her in the a** and use her as a sex slave.”
The next morning, he raped her several times until her concerned father called to the house and she ran out.
In a victim impact statement, the rape victim said she is now anxious, struggles to sleep and has been disowned by her father.
Patton has a previous conviction for battering his mother in 2014 - an incident in which he pinned her to the floor by the neck and punched her in the face.
Richard Canning, mitigating, said that his client has issues with the definition of rape. While being cross-examined during the trial, Patton had said: “How can it have been rape if there was no violence?”
The court heard that the probation service deemed Patton a high risk to the victim, but not to the general public.
Judge Khokhar said he had already made a restraining order banning the defendant from contacting the victim, but the Crown Prosecution Service did not apply for a Sexual Harm Prevention Order.
Two young males and a female sat in the public gallery throughout the hearing.
Afterwards, Det Cons Shaun Lewis, of the Kirklees Safeguarding Unit, said: “Patton is a dangerous individual who subjected his victim to a sustained and horrendous ordeal.
“Patton’s conviction for what can only be described as horrendous crimes has removed a dangerous, obsessed sexual predator from our streets. It was evident that he had planned to commit these offences against the victim and if she had not been brave enough to come forward he would have continued to offend.
“I would like to praise the victim, who has showed immense bravery throughout the whole criminal process, and hope that today’s sentence allows her to get some closure to her ordeal. She has been supported by specially trained officers since she came forward to the police to report the offences.”
The woman had been medically examined in hospital and had faced more than three hours of questioning in court.
