Jack Usher, 18 arrested for assault (Image: SWNS)
A teenager was spotted lurking in woods before he grabbed a woman and tried to rape her in an “extremely violent and terrifying” attack.
Jack Usher, 18, repeatedly punched his victim, who had been walking alone in broad daylight, and ignored her desperate pleas to stop.
Usher did not know the woman and had been seen by others lurking in the area earlier wearing a heavy coat despite the warm weather.
When arrested, he told police he had “an impulsive thought to do something that would put him away for a very long time,” Canterbury Crown Court heard.
Usher, of New Romney, Kent, had pleaded guilty to attempted rape, assault with intent to commit a sexual offence, and assault causing actual bodily harm at an earlier hearing.
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Judge Mark Weekes said Usher posed a danger to the public, and the “harrowing” attack was “every lone woman’s nightmare”. He imposed an extended sentence of six years and nine months’ custody with a further six years added to any licence period.
Usher was also placed on the Sex Offenders’ Register indefinitely. He was told he will have to serve at least two-thirds of the custodial period before he can apply for parole.
The court heard the woman was walking through woodland in Greatstone, Kent, when she was attacked shortly after 5pm on Saturday May 13 this year.
Martin Yale, prosecuting, said: “She was subjected to an extremely violent and terrifying attack in broad daylight at the hands of this defendant who was a stranger to her. It was clear the motive was sexual and he had a settled intention to rape her.
“CCTV footage showed he had left his home a couple of hours before the attack and was loitering in a wooded area, seemingly waiting for a suitable victim. Fortunately, despite the significant level of violence used, he didn’t succeed in his endeavours and she managed to escape without being raped.”
Canterbury Crown Court (Image: Wikipedia )
As the woman walked through the woods, she looked over her shoulder and saw Usher in bushes wearing the coat as well as a pork pie hat and orange-tinted glasses. She carried on walking, but became aware of him running up behind her.
Mr Yales said: “He grabbed her and then repeatedly punched her to the head. She asked him what he was doing and tried to get away. Fearing she was going to be raped, she began pleading with him. She even offered him money to leave her alone.
“However, he replied ‘I don’t want your money. I’m going to rape you.’.”
Usher continued to punch his victim and struck her in the ribs. He then began dragging her by her hair towards the bushes as she tried to escape.
Mr Yale said: “They ended up in a clearing, facing each other.
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“She said ‘Please stop, please stop’. Items from her bag had fallen out and she began to collect them. She begged him to let her go and promised she wouldn’t tell anybody what he had tried to do.”
But after making an aggressive lurid remark Usher then stopped and started to walk away. The injured woman fled in the opposite direction and raised the alarm, the court heard.
When arrested five days later, Usher told a police officer that friends had suggested he may have a split personality disorder. Usher also revealed he had confided in others about violent thoughts and feelings he had, the court heard.
The victim later picked Usher out in an identity parade, as did witnesses who had also seen him in the woods. His DNA was also recovered.
The woman spoke of the “significant” impact of her ordeal and said she even felt scared in her own home.
She said: “My anxiety has increased and I relive the events in my head on a daily basis, sometimes during my sleep. I think about what happened and how much worse it could have been.”
Usher, said to have Asperger’s, gave a “no comment” interview to police and had since shown a lack of remorse.
The court also heard that although he was of previous good character, he had revealed what Judge Weekes described as a “troubling pattern of sexual behaviour”.
Usher told a probation officer there had been two other occasions when he had engaged in non-consensual sexual activity, although no charges resulted from it.
However, a psychological assessment concluded he was “a bright man who knows the difference between right and wrong”.
Paul Hogben, in mitigation, told the court that the rape bid had not involved “significant planning”. He added: “There was no weapon, no disguise, no implement with which to restrain his victim. This was someone who went out, was looking for a victim, and found a victim.”
Sentencing Usher [on Tuesday October 17], Judge Weekes praised the woman for her “calmly and carefully” worded impact statement. But he said he believed it “somewhat understates the absolute horror” she experienced.
He told Usher: “This was, bluntly, every lone woman’s nightmare. While the court can express the hope that your capture, plea of guilty and lengthy sentence will provide her with a measure of comfort, the reality is it will take her many, many years to regain any confidence in walking alone in these circumstances. I can only hope today’s exercise will mark the end of a chapter and she can continue with the longer process of healing.”
Of the attack itself, the judge acknowledged its “harrowing nature”, adding: “It must have been as though time stopped and that what happened to her seemed like a lifetime.”
Senior investigating officer Detective Inspector Ross Gurden said: ‘This attack would have been terrifying for the victim and I would like to praise her courage in supporting our investigation and this prosecution.” He added: ‘I hope the quick arrest and charge of this suspect, as well as the jail term now imposed, reassures the local community, who must have found the incident very concerning.”
