'I'm a monster, I just assumed consent': Leeds rapist targeted vulnerable woman then sent 'despicable and degrading' text message boasting about sex attack

Nathan Johnston targeted the woman at a flat in Leeds as he knew she was under the influence of drink and drugs.

Leeds Crown Court heard Johnston forced himself upon the victim despite the woman repeatedly telling him to stop.

The 26-year-old defendant ripped the victim's underwear and left her with bruising to her body during the attack.

Jonathan Sharp, prosecuting, said: "She said she was going through panic. She felt stupid, vulnerable and scared."

After the ordeal she managed to run from the flat naked from the waist down.

She was then helped by a group of people who saw her in a distressed state.

Mr Sharp said: "They took her back to a nearby address, talked to her and made her tea, and found her some clothes and a bed for the night."

The court heard Johnston sent a text message to a friend after the incident using "demeaning and degrading language", boasting about what he had done.

Johnston admitted what he had done when later questioned about the incident.

Mr Sharp said: "The defendant responded by going very quiet, then saying 'I’m a monster, I just assumed consent.'

"He became very upset and apparently angry with himself, throwing the food he had been eating and banging his head on a wall."

Johnston, of Broomfield Terrace, Headingley, pleaded guilty to rape.

The court heard the woman continues to suffer from anxiety and flashbacks.

In a victim statement, read to the court on her behalf by the prosecutor, she said: "I feel like I do not know who I am any more. I feel like I am locked inside my own thoughts.

"I struggle to remember that what happened doesn't define me but it has affected the way I think, act and behave.

"It is so hard to explain what is going on in my head."

Keith Allen, mitigating, said Johnston had no recollection of committing the offence due to the drink and drugs he had taken.

Mr Allen said: "The behaviour that night was an aberration in this young man's life."

Recorder Nicholas Lumley QC rejected Johnston's account that he could not remember raping the woman.

He told the defendant: "You now say you recall nothing of it.

"But at the time you sent a message (using) despicable and degrading language.

"That demonstrates that you knew full well what you had done.

"People like you are emboldened to take risks and ride roughshod over the wishes of others.

"The effect on her is life changing. It is devastating.

"Her life will never be the same. I am entirely satisfied she suffered severe psychological harm because of what you did."

Recorder Lumley awarded £100 from public funds to one of the people who helped the victim, in recognition of the "care and compassion" she showed.