Hartlepool man found guilty of raping two women two years apart and now faces jail

During a trial at Teesside Crown Court Leigh Pear, 39, was said to have deliberately targeted vulnerable women.

He has been found guilty of two counts of rape – one against each woman – that were committed more than two years apart.

Pear stood trial on seven counts of rape in total relating to three women who cannot be identified for legal reasons.

The jury reached majority guilty verdicts on two counts on Friday, February 12, and were unable to agree verdicts on the other five counts which were then dismissed.

Explaining the first offence Pear was convicted of, prosecutor Joanne Kidd said the victim made it clear she did not want to have sex with him.

Ms Kidd said: “She told him it was hurting her. She told him to get off her but he didn’t stop.”

Pear, Milbank Road, Hartlepool denied each of the offences and said in each case the sex was consensual.

But Ms Kidd said a ‘common thread’ ran through the case that he deliberately targeted women who were vulnerable.

She added: “He clearly considered their view, their wish, their desires were of no importance, and that if he wanted to have sex he was going to have it.”

The trial lasted nine days with the jury retiring on Wednesday afternoon to consider their verdicts.

Pear was remanded in custody by Judge Stephen Ashurst and will return to the court to be sentenced on a date to be fixed.

Related story: Farmer jailed for sex assault on Hartlepool victim

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