The victim ‘told him to stop but he wouldn’t’, a court heard
Michael Wilkinson, pictured at Hull Crown Court(Image: Hull Live)
A “vulnerable” woman was left shocked and suffering nightmares after she was was the victim of a “callous” and drug-fuelled rape. She begged the man to stop but he ignored her and later claimed that the attack “didn’t happen and couldn’t have happened”.
The victim was left crying and feeling “disgusting” as well as upset that there was “no hiding from memories” after the rape, Hull Crown Court heard.
Michael Wilkinson, 30, of Willerby Road, west Hull, but recently in custody on remand, denied an offence of rape but he was convicted by a jury after a trial. He was cleared of another rape offence.
Dale Brook, prosecuting, said that Wilkinson pushed the woman down and raped her, despite her telling him that she did not want to have sex with him. “She told him to stop but he wouldn’t,” said Mr Brook.
“Afterwards, she was crying.” During police interview, Wilkinson denied raping the woman and claimed that they had consensual sex. He claimed that the rape “didn’t happen and couldn’t have happened”.
The woman later said: “I was in so much pain and he didn’t care. I was embarrassed and ashamed and he didn’t care. He made me feel like I was nothing, just something for him to use.
“He made me feel disgusting. What he took from me can never be given back. I don’t know if I will ever be able to trust anyone again. There is no hiding from memories.”
The victim added: “When I do sleep, I have nightmares about him. The anxiety is overwhelming. Despite everything, I am glad I spoke up. Everyone knows what he is.”
Charlotte Baines, mitigating, said that the woman was vulnerable at the time of the rape. “It was very unpleasant, to say the least,” said Miss Baines. “I don’t diminish that.”
Wilkinson had been in custody since the start of the proceedings but he had previously been working as a groundworker. He was arrested at a probation office while attending there because of a previous court order that he had been doing well on.
While in custody on remand, he had worked inside the prison. “He has benefited in that he has not been taking any drink or drugs,” said Miss Baines.
Deputy circuit judge Timothy Clayson told Wilkinson: “This was a callous, self-centred act of rape carried out for your sexual gratification. This offence has caused her significant psychological harm.
“Your downfall was drink and, particularly, drugs.”
Wilkinson was jailed for eight years. He will have to register as a sex offender and he was given an indefinite restraining order.