Rapist jailed for 13 years for hammer sex attack on woman
22 October 2019, 09:47
A rapist has been jailed for 13 years after he attacked a woman with a hammer before sexually assaulting her twice.
Ryan Bruce, 26, arranged to meet his victim in an empty house in east London, which he was using without the owner’s knowledge or permission.
The woman, in her 30s, arrived at around 11.30pm on 13 March and Bruce invited her in and took her to an upstairs bedroom.
She went to take her shoes off, and as she bent down, Bruce hit her several times over the head with a hammer causing an injury that later required stitches.
The victim thought she was being robbed, and offered him her money.
However, he told her to undress and get onto the bed. Out of fear, she got undressed; Bruce then raped her twice.
By chance, a relative of the tenant returned home and heard the victim crying upstairs.
Knowing that the house should be empty, they called the police.
They saw Bruce waving the hammer and tackled him, retrieving the weapon before he fled.
Bruce was stopped nearby by police and was arrested and searched, which led to police finding the victim’s mobile phone.
He was charged the following day with two counts of rape, ABH, false imprisonment and theft.
Bruce, of no fixed abode, pleaded guilty to the two charges of rape during a Pre-Trial Review at Wood Green Crown Court on 1 August.
He was jailed at the same court on Monday.
Detective Constable Michael Dixon, of Central East Command Unit, said: “This was a horrific attack and I am happy that Ryan Bruce has today been sentenced to a lengthy prison sentence. London is a safer place with him behind bars.”
