Shane Liptrot, 26, raped a woman in the middle of the night after banging on her door with a knife in his hand before barging his way inside her home
A man has been jailed for life after forcing his way into a woman’s home and raping her at knifepoint.
Shane Liptrot, 26, repeatedly knocked on his victim’s door, alerting the young woman in the early hours of June 7 last year. As she opened the door, he held a Stanley knife in his hand before he started to question her. She lied, telling the man her boyfriend was at home, but he ignored her and barged his way into the property.
Manchester Crown Court heard Liptrot claimed he was a drug dealer and ‘rich’, before telling her that she would be the ‘first person he had sex with’ after being released from prison. Then, he forced himself on her and sexually attacked her.
As she tried to create distance, she told him: “Please, you’re really hurting me, can you leave my house.” Liptrot then exposed himself and she told him she did not want to have sex. He continued to grope her before taking hold of her hair and forcing himself upon her. When she tried to distract him by asking about his tattoo, he said: “Shut up, b***h.”
Manchester Evening News reports the court was told the woman had to make ‘calculations’ about the pain of the rape, due to Liptrot’s penis being ‘so small’. “How appalling that she had to make a calculation like this,” said a judge. Liptrot then raped her without wearing a condom.
The court heard Liptrot had been released from a five year jail term on June 5, having been convicted of four offences of robbery committed against a lone woman at night. He was arrested the following day. Siôn ap Mihangel, prosecuting, added that Liptrot has targeted a lone woman and went on to blame the victim and suggested she was sexually uninhibited.
In a victim personal statement read to the court, the woman said she had previously had to rebuild her life after surviving a violent relationship. She suffered with her mental health and struggled to care for her children, and as a result, she chose to surrender her tenancy as she didn’t want to be at the home where her children couldn’t return to.
This led to the ‘devastating decision’ to place her children in long term foster care. She said: “I lost my children because I was a victim of crime. I was left thinking ‘how could this happen to me when I was so close to getting my life back?’
“I cry myself to sleep every night. I lost everything, my home, my possessions, everything I worked so hard for. I live in constant fear, I’m not able to sleep in a house alone and I wake from nightmares reliving that night. It haunts me all the time.”
She said she blamed herself for opening the door and was frightened of being confronted for speaking out. “I’m terrified to walk alone, I am constantly fearing what will be waiting for me when I see a man. I feel overwhelmed with fear and my mind races. It’s exhausting, I feel isolated and trapped and unable to trust the world around me.”
Desmond Lennon, for Liptrot, said his client maintains his innocence and is unable to accept the verdicts of the jury. He said he had significant difficulties when he was younger and spent time in care before turning to crime. He was also said to suffer from a personality disorder and depression.
He was also said to pose a ‘high risk of serious harm to members of the public’, a probation report concluded. “He wants to spend time with his mother and hopes to use his time in custody constructively,” Mr Lennon added.
Sentencing him as a dangerous offender, Judge Tom Gilbart said: “This was a deeply frightening and prolonged rape. There is a pattern of attacks on lone women at night. You have shown a lack of remorse and a lack of self management.”
He also said the presentence report described how Liptrot became ‘sexually aroused’ when posing a threat, and so showed a significant risk of causing serious harm. Judge Gilbart added: “I am unable to foresee a time when you will not pose a risk to members of the public.”
Liptrot, of Anson Place, was jailed for life to serve a minimum term of 12 years. He was also placed onto the Sex Offenders Register for life. As he was led to the cells below, a member of Liptrot’s family shouted: “You horrible b******!”
