A rapist who attacked an 18-year-old woman in an alleyway in the early hours of the morning was today (Friday) jailed for seven and a half years.
Philip Mundle, 31, was caught on CCTV riding a bike in the Silver Street area of Bedford when he spotted a vulnerable teenager as she made her way home from a bar at around four o’clock in the morning.
After the attack, on April 15 earlier this year, the victim approached a police night-time economy van and reported what happened.
Mundle was arrested on suspicion of rape shortly afterwards. At the police station he spat in the face of the woman arresting officer, said Stefan Weidmann, prosecuting.
In a victim impact statement, which she read to the judge at Luton crown court, the teenager said she had made several attempts at taking her life and ended up in a mental health unit.
She said: “Since April I am always in my room isolating myself. When I go out I am always looking over my shoulder. I struggle to trust people.”
Nightmares
The woman said she suffers nightmares and imagines seeing Mundle when she takes a shower or in her bedroom.
Mundle, of no fixed address, had been convicted of rape and had admitted assault of an emergency worker.
Mr Weidmann said: “It is a very serious case of stranger rape. The defendant and the victim first encountered each other minutes before the rape in the alleyway.
“The victim was demonstrably intoxicated. She was vulnerable. The effect of the rape on her can only be described as severe.”
Defending, Lucie Wibberley said Mundle had no previous convictions for sexual offences. She said he has been assessed as having an “unusually low IQ”, suffered childhood trauma and has a hearing impediment.
“He expresses his remorse and he regrets the fact we are here,” she said.
Judge Alan Blake jailed him for seven and a half years. He said he regarded Mundle as a ‘dangerous offender’ and passed an extended sentence of three years.
This means that he can be recalled to prison within the next 10 and a half years. He was given a further sentence of a month for spitting at the police officer.
Judge Blake said: ” This was a stranger rape in the early hours of the morning in a town centre,”
He told Mundle, “It was brazen offending in a town centre in the early hours of the morning. She was in a position of particular vulnerability when you took advantage of her.”
He went on, “I have heard the long-time effect it has had on the victim. Something that took you a few seconds for your gratification has lasted for her for many months.
“The psychological harm caused to this young woman resulting in suicidal thoughts and a period spent in a mental health unit constitutes severe psychological harm.”
Mundle must register as a sex offender for life and was given a restraining order banning him from contacting the victim for 10 years.
Project Firefly
Read: Man convicted of rape after alleyway attack
Detective Constable Philippa McCarthy from Bedfordshire Police’s Rape and Serious Sexual Offences team, said: “The evidence showed that Mundle deliberately preyed on and targeted what he considered to be a vulnerable woman.
“The victim in this case has shown enormous courage to come forward and speak to officers immediately and throughout the case, to help ensure Mundle was brought to justice for his crimes.
“Women deserve to feel safe in public spaces and should not have to worry.
“Predators like Mundle who act in this kind of appalling way will be relentlessly pursued by our officers and put where they deserve to be – behind bars.”
Bedfordshire Police has rolled out Project Firefly, which aims to ensure women don’t face unwanted and unacceptable behaviour in things like bars and clubs.
The project includes specialist training for police officers who go out on patrol as well as licensed premises, an increased police presence and a social media campaign aimed at challenging perpetrators of male violence and abuse.
As part of the project, several premises across the county have received training on how to spot predators and tools to report and support, as part of helping people feel safe.
Reporting by South Beds News Agency
Edited by Paul Hutchinson for the Bedford Independent
