Man who raped woman in Hartlepool is sentenced to more than four years jail at Teesside Crown Court

Brandon Puncheon, 25, pinned the victim down and repeatedly ignored her pleas for him to stop, Teesside Crown Court heard.

She was left in tears by the attack and continues to have flashbacks and nightmares.

Puncheon, denied the offence, which happened in Hartlepool, but was convicted by a jury following a trial.

Paul Abrahams, prosecuting, said: “The complainant tried to wriggle away from the defendant’s advances.

"She told him to stop but he leaned over and put himself on top of her so she couldn’t move.”

He added: “She was repeatedly telling him to stop which he ignored.”

The woman, who cannot be identified, was in court on to see Puncheon jailed.

In a statement read on her behalf she said: “It made me feel physically sick to my stomach.

"I felt like ending my life. I just didn’t want to be here anymore. I’m scared to answer my front door.”

Puncheon, formerly of Hartlepool, was acquitted at the trial of another sex assault.

Robert Mochrie, mitigating, said Puncheon, had significant mental health difficulties and has no similar previous convictions.

Mr Mochrie said: “The chances of him committing another offence of this nature is extremely remote indeed.”

The judge, Recorder Paul Reid, told Puncheon, of Sadberge Road, Stockton: “She was in tears telling you to stop but you didn’t.

"She tried to get away from you but you are bigger and stronger.”

The judge also made an indefinite restraining order.