Man jailed for raping woman in her home in Crewe

A 19-year-old man from Crewe has been jailed for 11 years after being convicted of raping a woman in her bed after gaining access to her home.

Joshua Cooper, from Elm Drive in Crewe appeared at Chester Crown Court on Friday 1 May to be sentenced to 11 years in prison for each of the three counts of rape which will run concurrently. He was also handed down an indefinite restraining order and he will be on the sex offenders register indefinitely.

A previous jury was unable to make a decision and a re-trial was set for Monday 16 March. Following a five day trial the jury found him guilty on all three counts of rape.

The jury heard that in the early hours of 9 February 2019 Cooper gained access to a house in Henry Street, Crewe by an unlocked rear door. He then woke the woman, who is in her 50s, and raped her. The woman, who was in a distressed state, reported the incident to the police and a neighbour.

Following an investigation by specially trained detectives from the Dedicated Rape Unit the net began to close in on Cooper. Following a media appeal Cooper was identified from a gun tattoo on his hand and CCTV also showed a man walking along the street minutes before the incident happened. His DNA was later confirmed to connect him to the horrific crime.

DC George Booth said: “You expect to feel safe in your own home, especially while you’re sleeping, so this was an especially distressing crime which the victim is still trying to come to terms with.

“Added to the pain and trauma was the fact she had to then wait for the outcome of a re-trial to finally get justice. The victim has shown great courage during this harrowing ordeal and has been supported by us throughout. I hope this conviction will help her in some way to come to terms with what appears to have been an opportunistic attack.”