A RAPIST who subjected a 21-year-old “Good Samaritan” to a sickening sexual attack has been jailed for life, serving a minimum of seven-and-a-half years.

Anthony Bond

A RAPIST who subjected a 21-year-old “Good Samaritan” to a sickening sexual attack has been jailed for life, serving a minimum of seven-and-a-half years.

Disabled Robert English, 58, duped his female victim into helping him by pretending to be struggling with heavy bags outside Tesco in Brandon - he then bundled her into the boot of his 4x4 at knifepoint and took her to a mobile home where he raped her and threatened to kill her.

At Ipswich Crown Court yesterday , and in front of English's victim, Judge Neil McKittrick sent him to prison for life. English, of Fiddlewood Road, Norwich, was told he would not be considered for parole for seven-and-a-half years.

“You took advantage of this Good Samaritan by kidnapping her in a most frightening way,” said Judge McKittrick. “This was a well thought-out plan to kidnap a young woman to satisfy your own lust and depravity.”

The court heard how on June 14 he asked his victim to help him put a bag into the back of his car outside Tesco in Brandon.

She agreed to help but as she put the bag into the car, English, who walks with a severe limp, produced a knife and said “shut up and get into the back of the car”.

He tied her hands and feet and put rope around her neck and said “if you dare move or scream I will stab you”.

English, a married father-of-two, then drove her to his mobile home 20 minutes away in Hockwold, Norfolk. Once there he told his terrified victim that he wanted to make love to her.

He showed her a 3ft deep-hole in the ground and said: “That is your grave if you do not do what I want you to do.”

Despite begging and pleading to be taken home English subjected his victim to a brutal sexual assault during which he raped her twice and ordered her to perform sexual acts on him. Following the three-hour ordeal he drove her back to Brandon where he dumped her on an industrial estate.

Despite what happened to her, the victim was able to give police a detailed account of her journey to the mobile home and details of the inside and outside of it.

Police were then able to locate the mobile home with the help of the police helicopter which led to English being arrested. He later pleaded guilty to kidnap, false imprisonment, sexual assault, assault by penetration and two counts of rape.

In court throughout yesterday'ssentencing, the victim, who now suffers from panic attacks, was praised by Judge McKittrick.

“I cannot speak highly enough of her strength of character despite the quite dreadful series of events that befell her,” he said.

He also reassured members of the public.

“People should be reassured that it is very rare indeed that offences of this sort, which could be described as every female's greatest nightmare, take place.”

Speaking after the sentence was passed Detective Chief Inspector David Cutler said: “It was a horrendous offence and I am not sure what goes through somebody's mind to commit an offence like this to a young girl through a prolonged and terrifying attack. I do not know if we will ever know that.”

Ian James, mitigating, said English had pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity.

After the case Michael Crimp, of the CPS, said: “In his sentence the judge clearly reflected the very serious nature of the offence in the sentence he passed.

“This (English) was a man with no prior convictions, a family man, the last person who you would expect to be responsible for this sort of thing.

“When the victim was asked to help him she had no reason to believe something bad was going to happen to her. To her he was just an elderly gentleman and she was just a Good Samaritan.

“She gave an extremely detailed account of what happened to her, when it happened and how she got there, and at a time when she was still in a considerable amount of distress. It was that description which helped the police find him sooner.”