Victim tells jailed Leeds rapist and murderer: 'I hope no woman will ever fear you again'
A female who was imprisoned at a Leeds flat, beaten and raped says she “hopes no woman will have to fear him again” as her perpetrator was jailed for 28 years.
Steven Francis was convicted after a trial at Leeds Crown Court of murdering 43-year-old Louisa Hall at his home in October 2023.
But the 59-year-old was also convicted of raping another woman at the same flat on Oatland Court, Little London, almost a decade ago.
Like Ms Hall, she was a sex worker who was beaten and stripped, but was able to escape from Francis when she promised him money.
Despite reporting him to the police, the matter was not pursued until he was charged with the murder of Ms Hall.
Francis was given the life sentence this morning for the murder and the rape, among other offences.
The rape victim, who cannot be named, had her statement read to the court by prosecutor Abigail Langford during today’s sentencing hearing.
The woman had bravely faced Francis in court, giving evidence against him during the seven-day trial.
She said she rejected the chance to be shielded from Francis’ view while giving evidence, saying she wanted him to “see and hear” what he had done, despite her anxiety being the “worst it’s ever been”.
In her statement, she said: “I will no longer fear you. The thought of you being able to do this to someone else is unbearable.
“I hope that no woman will ever have to fear you again.”
She added: “You took away my dignity in the worst way possible and left me feeling dirty and alone.
“You made me feel like I deserved what you did to me. It is only that I have rebuilt myself mentally and become a stronger person that I understand I did not deserve what happened to me.”
She said that at the time she had no money and no home, had developed a drug habit was forced to turn to sex work. She is now clean of drugs.
She said that the police came knocking in September last year and quizzed her about the attack.
She said: “It felt like reliving a nightmare. For the first time in my life someone in authority believed in me and gave me the strength I needed to talk about what you did.”
During the trial it was heard that she had been “looking for business” one evening when a taxi pulled up with Francis as the passenger.
He invited her to his flat and despite having reservations, she went with him.
When they reached his flat they smoked crack for around an hour, but without warning he jumped towards her and told her she was “not going anywhere”.
He grabbed her by the neck and took money out of her pocket, before punching her to the face.
The woman was crouched in the corner of the room and then blacked out.
When she woke she was naked and felt sore in her genital area, suggesting he had “taken advantage of her” sexually when she was unconscious.
He slapped her across the face and repeated that she was going nowhere. He left the flat and locked the door behind him, so she frantically searched for another key.
But he then returned, grabbed her by the throat and raped her. Later, in a desperate bid to escape, she told Francis she had cash in a bank, which interested him.
He then frogmarched her to a Post Office, warning her not to run. But when he momentarily let go of her, she saw her opportunity and fled. Francis was later arrested, but denied any wrongdoing.
Francis was found guilty of two counts of rape, false imprisonment, ABH and robbery.