Soldier jailed for nine years for raping stranger

An "evil" soldier who raped a woman in a dark alleyway has been sentenced to nine years in prison.

Pte John Harvey, 25, of Clive Barracks in Tern Hill, Shropshire, had previously admitted carrying out the attack in the early hours of 6 July in the Mardol area of Shrewsbury.

A statement from the victim, read out at Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court, said she had suffered from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and anxiety since the attack, and rarely went out with friends now.

She said she had been motivated to see the trial through to the end to prevent Harvey attacking anyone else, but as a result had been "forced to relive the worst moment of my life repeatedly".

The court heard the incident, in which she was raped twice and sexually assaulted, had lasted about 20 minutes.

Det Con Sam Jones said he had "committed a purely evil crime".

In passing his sentence, Judge Richard McConaghy told Harvey: "You were drunk and had clearly been looking for sex.

"She was not interested in you, but you did not care."

After the attack, the victim called the police, and the judge said the call had been "harrowing to listen to".

Despite making full admissions to officers when he was arrested, Harvey chose to go to trial and contest the allegations.

Det Con Jones said as a result of changing his story, he had subjected "his victim and her loved ones to sit through a trial and relive that awful night".

The victim's statement, read by prosecutor Caroline Harris, said: "This man has no regard for women."

He was found guilty in February by a jury following a nine-day trial.

Clive Barracks is the long-term home of the 1st Battalion of the Royal Irish Regiment, but a statement from the Army did not confirm details of Harvey's unit.

The judge said he was "an educated man with a degree" and a "respectable career".

"You had the capacity to make something of your life," the judge told him.

He sentenced Harvey to nine years for each of the charges of rape, to run concurrently, and seven years for the sexual assault, also to run concurrently.

The judge said he must also serve three years on extended licence once his sentence was complete, be placed on the sex offenders register for life and must not contact victim directly or indirectly.

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