'Truly depraved' rapist jailed for 17 years
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George Herd
BBC Wales
North Wales Police
Gift Oladele carried out the attack in September last year
A man who pulled a young woman into woods in Wrexham and raped her has been jailed for 17 years.
Gift Oladele, 24, from Manchester, carried out the attack in September last year, after befriending the 18-year-old victim as she made her way home on a night out.
Oladele was previously jailed in 2022 for a sexually motivated attack in Manchester.
He was found guilty of rape and sexual assault following a trial at Mold Crown Court in March.
During the sentencing hearing in Caernarfon, it emerged Oladele was already on bail following another allegation of rape in Manchester in November 2024.
The court was told how Oladele approached his victim while she was with friends outside a take-away restaurant in Wrexham city centre, and at first appeared "friendly and flirtatious".
The woman was described as "completely sober" and in full command of her senses.
Prosecutor James Coutts said Oladele told the young woman he was walking home the same way has her, and accompanied her.
But as they passed an isolated area, he grabbed her by the mouth and forced her into woods, where he carried out a violent rape.
"She described being terrified," said the prosecutor.
"She did what she thought she needed to do to get through the attack," Coutts told the court.
Oladele left her "isolated, vulnerable and alone" at the scene.
The court heard Oladele told her he would "find her and harm her" if she reported the rape, and threatened to take photographs and post them online.
But she immediately told her parents when she arrived home, and the police were called.
Oladele was arrested the next day at his cousin's home in Wrexham.
The court was told he had attempted to hide a mobile phone from officers, which had revealed searches for sexual attacks.
The prosecution alleged Oladele had "a fascination in forced sexual abuse and rape".
"He was acting out a fantasy in these videos."
'I feel unsafe'
The 18-year-old victim told the court she is awoken by nightmares every night that Oladele has tracked her down: "I'm petrified," she said, as she read out her victim impact statement.
She described how she had had to take a course of medication to prevent HIV infection, and had suffered long-term damage mentally and emotionally as a result of the attack.
"I feel ashamed, and somehow damaged, since what he did to me.
"The emotional impact has been very significant.
"I can't go anywhere on my own anymore.
"I feel unsafe."
Judge Simon Mills told her: "You showed exceptional courage during the incident and afterwards."
Sentencing Oladele, the judge described the attacker's actions as "truly depraved".
"You subjected her to a terrible violation," he said.
"You are a dangerous offender."
He said the rapist posed an exceptionally high risk of harm to young women, adding Oladele had shown "absolutely no remorse whatsoever".
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