Newport: Victims praised as 'sadistic' rapist jailed

Two women who gave evidence in court against a rapist have been praised for their "bravery".

John Harding, 28, was sentenced to 15 years in prison for 10 offences including rape, strangulation and false imprisonment.

Harding, who was living in Newport, took one of his victims, then 16, to a woodland in the city on 5 June last year, Merthyr Crown Court heard.

He then threw her to the ground, kicked her and stood on her head.

Harding strangled the girl until she passed out and she woke up to find him sitting on top of her and hitting her, in an attempt to get her to "breathe again".

Later the same month, on 23 June, he took the same girl to a field near Fourteen Locks in Newport and asked her to close her eyes and put her hands out for a present.

He then bound her wrists, ankles and mouth with tape.

When they became aware of two men who happened to be passing nearby, he told her he would kill her and the men if she screamed to get their attention.

He then held scissors to her throat. The girl suffered broken ribs in the attack.

The following month, on 11 July, Harding attacked another woman who he had been seeing for 12 days.

The court heard that when the woman, who was 20, said she wanted to break up with him, Harding came to her flat and refused to leave, saying: "I will leave when I want to."

The court heard Harding then threw the woman to the ground and stood on her head.

During the trial at Cardiff Crown Court in December, the woman recalled how she counted to 40 while he was standing on her head.

"She was screaming and in pain," said Judge Jeremy Jenkins.

The court heard Harding - who had two previous convictions for violent offences against women, including one for which he had served 10 months in prison - then pushed his victim into her bedroom, where he again attacked her, grabbing her by the head.

In what the judge described as "bordering on the sadistic", he then told his victim she was "not scared enough".

The court heard Harding refused to let the victim leave and she later woke to find him sexually assaulting her.

The victim "made it clear she wasn't interested" in sex, the judge said, but Harding then raped her, "causing her extreme pain".

After the rape, the woman asked if she could go to the shop to get food and bring it back, and Harding allowed her to leave.

The court heard she then ran to a Boots store and told staff she had been raped. They called the police and Harding was arrested later the same day.

The court also heard that Harding had sent letters to one of his victims from prison.

In a statement read to the court by the victim, she said she now suffers from anxiety and is afraid to leave the house.

She said: "I feel as though I have the word victim written all over my face when I leave the house."

She described the attack as "dehumanising" and said she now struggled to eat because it was the only thing she felt she could control.

She added: "These events have torn scars on my soul that will last forever."

In December, a jury found Harding guilty of all charges, including four counts of actual bodily harm, false imprisonment, strangulation and threats to kill against the 16-year-old victim.

He was found guilty of six counts against the second victim, including false imprisonment, actual bodily harm, strangulation, penetration and two counts of rape.

During sentencing earlier, the court heard Harding still denied the offences and claimed his victims were lying.

Kevin Seal, defending Harding, said his client had a difficult time as a young man but that this did not excuse his behaviour.

He said he showed a "great deal of immaturity as far as his actions are concerned".

Judge Jenkins gave Harding concurrent sentences for the offences against each of his victims, totalling 15 years.

Praising the two victims, the judge said their "bravery" in giving evidence was "absolutely fundamental to the successful prosecution of this case".

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