A man has been jailed for eight years for raping a woman at his home.
A court heard how Stuart Rochester dragged the woman to a bedroom, tied her to a bed and then raped her in May last year.
The woman was discovered in a distressed state later on after Rochester told a postwoman to go to the house.
Rochester, 43, denied charges of raping the woman and false imprisonment but was convicted after a trial at the end of last year. He admitted another charge of possessing a sheath knife. Sentence had been adjourned for reports.
Judge Charles Gratwicke told Rochester he had subjected the woman to a violent and degrading ordeal.
David Holborn, prosecuting, told the trial the woman went to Rochester's home in Boleyn Way, Chelmsford, on May 7 last year after he had invited her there.
Rochester read a prepared statement to police denying dragging the woman upstairs and he also said he did nothing that the woman did not consent to.
Peter Keaney, mitigating, told the court: "He still maintains his innocence and has expressed no remorse. He feels it was a malicious prosecution."
Mr Keaney added: "He is a broken man and his reputation is ruined."
More in today's Evening Gazette
Published Thursday, February 3, 2005
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