Rhys Roser has been jailed for seven years and eight months for his attack on a 19-year-old woman
A rapist has been jailed for more than seven years after unwittingly confessing to the sex attack as his victim recorded him on her mobile phone.
Amateur boxer and rock climber Rhys Roser, 24, denied the allegations when he was arrested, but went on the run when he heard the damning recording, eventually pleading guilty at trial.
He was jailed for seven years and eight months for a rape in the early hours of September 14, 2015 of a 19-year-old.
‘He had not heard the recording until earlier this year and that must have come as a shock to him, the clear evidence of it,’ his lawyer Miss Marie Spenwyn told Harrow Crown Court.
‘We now have a man hanging his head in shame over his behaviour.’
Roser, of Maida Vale, north west London, pleaded guilty to one count of rape, attempted rape, sexual assault and assault by penetration at a north-west London address nearly two years ago.
The tree surgeon raped the teen in the flat’s shower after the victim fled to the bathroom because she was suffering a panic attack brought on by Roser’s unwanted advances.
‘He made it plain he wanted to have sex and she didn’t,’ said prosecutor Mr. Peter Clement. ‘The defendant became more demanding and somewhat bullying of her.
‘He grabbed her by the arm, torso and neck and the more aggressive he became the more aroused he got.’
Roser, an amateur boxer, told the victim he had a free pass to sleep with her. The tree surgeon was recorded on the victim’s phone and he pleaded guilty
They were still in the bedroom when she grabbed her phone and began the audio recording, which later proved she was pleading: ‘Leave me alone.’
‘He said he had a “free pass” to have sex with her and by this time she was in tears, asking him to shut up and leave her alone,’ added Mr. Clement.
‘She locked herself in the bathroom, but Roser pushed his way in. He locked the bathroom door and pushed her into the shower.
‘He pulled her head back and bent her left arm behind her back.’
The teenager was then raped.
They returned to the bedroom, where the phone recorded Roser saying: ‘I was wrong in every way. I shouldn’t have done that, I don’t know what came over me.
‘Don’t tell anyone please. You don’t want to do the whole court thing. You’re not going to stand up in court and tell everyone you were raped, way too embarrassing.
‘You were kinda (sic) sexy because you had wetness on your face.
‘That’s the one thing that’s going to ruin my life. Don’t f***ing tell anyone, it’s real simple.’
In an impact statement fifteen months after the attack the victim said the attack had ‘a staggering effect’ on her explaining she had suffered depression, anxiety, insomnia, flashbacks and night terror.
The victim said the attack had led her to suffer anxiety and insomnia. The recording included Roser apologising for what ‘came over him’
Recorder Matthew Lowe told Roser: ‘Your subsequent conversations were recorded on that telephone.
‘You were heard saying you had gone mad and were wrong in every way and went onto plead with her not to report what happened and put pressure on her.
‘She describes it as emotional blackmail. What you did to her that night has had significant psychological and emotional effects.’