A soldier who raped a woman and told her he would kill her if she got pregnant, as he celebrated his 18th birthday, has been jailed.
Jack Connolly, now 20, shouted humiliating abuse at his victim as he repeatedly punched her in the face before raping her in a horrific 45-minute assault.
Leeds crown court heard how he became separated from his friends in the early hours.
Connolly had made the journey from an army base in Catterick, North Yorkshire, to Leeds to celebrate his 18th birthday with colleagues, the court heard.
He spoke to the woman and was friendly towards her before turning violent when they reached a secluded car park near the city centre, prosecutors said.
The court was told how Connolly choked his victim and when she tried to escape he grabbed her hair and dragged her along the ground.
During the assault, Connolly told the woman she should ‘walk like the dog you are’, and told her she ‘did not deserve to live’ and that she was ‘scum’.
The court heard how Connolly told her he would kill the baby if she became pregnant or reported the assault to police.
Prosecutor Gillian Batts said Connolly carried out the attack not long after having training about the ‘core values’ of being a soldier in the British Army.
The training included showing respect to others and treating them with dignity ‘whether they are a mate, an officer or a member of the Taliban’.
Connolly, of Ramsey, Cambridgeshire, had also had training about sexual offences and the issue of consent.
He was caught on camera calmly walking away from the scene and lighting a cigarette ‘as if nothing had happened’.
The court heard how he removed his T-shirt which was covered in his victim’s blood and threw it into the River Aire.
As he walked back through Leeds city centre, he was approached by two concerned women who asked if he was all right.
The ‘manipulative’ soldier told them he had been the victim of an assault, and the women ‘comforted’ him and walked him back to the Travelodge where he was staying.
Connolly then kept up the pretence and told his friends he had been attacked.
Judge Mushtaq Khokhar described that behaviour as ‘pure manipulation’.
Connolly was arrested after the victim reported the attack to police and DNA evidence linked him to the offence.
He denied any wrongdoing and claimed at his trial that he had caused the injuries to the woman in self-defence.
The jury found him guilty of two counts of rape and one of inflicting grievous bodily harm with intent.
The judge told Connolly he was imposing an extended custodial sentence as he considered him a serious danger to women.
He was jailed for 15 years followed by a three-year licence period.
After the case, Det Ch Insp Marc Bowes said: ‘Connolly preyed on the victim, who was clearly vulnerable, and subjected her to a frightening ordeal during which she was raped and beaten and left badly traumatised.’
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