[A] CARLISLE rapist who carried out violent sex attacks on two different women – several decades apart – has been handed a 20-year jail term.
The city’s crown court heard how Paul James Edward Beattie spat in the face of one woman as he drunkenly raped her last year, having threatened to break her jaw.
Prosecutor Tim Evans told how 52-year-old Beattie then “took hold of a bottle of bleach from the window sill” of a toilet and “sprayed it into her face three or four times”.
Beattie then raped the woman again, continuing to spit in her face. He then made her eat some prescription medication and, said Mr Evans: “He forced her to take four or five tablets.”
She was able to spit them out when Beattie wasn’t looking, and fled the house. During medical treatment, the woman was found to have increased PH levels in her eyes, and was irrigated with three litres of saline.
In an impact statement, she spoke of suffering “horrific nightmares” after the attack, and stated: “Life is a struggle and I feel at my lowest ever.”
“I also felt ultimately humiliated and sickened when he repeatedly spat in my face,” she stated.
“This whole situation has been and continues to be a nightmare for me.”
Beattie was arrested after being found by police in the loft of a Carlisle address. He denied raping the woman but was convicted after a trial of rape, two assaults and administering a noxious substance.
Last month, Beattie was brought back to court and admitted twice raping and indecent assaulting a second woman, during the 1980s. In a victim impact statement, the female said her “whole life has been consumed by what he did”.
When one rape on her was put to Beattie by police, he initially said: “I wouldn’t have done that – truthfully it would make me a monster.”
But his barrister, Judith McCullough, told today’s sentencing hearing: “He accepts, in full, the commission of both sets of these offences. He is sorry for any distress and pain he has caused to both victims.”
Beattie, previously of Howard Place, Carlisle, was handed a 20-year prison term, and made subject to an extended five-year licence period after being deemed a dangerous offender.
Judge James Adkin described the historical offending as “utterly heartless and deplorable”, and said the rapist’s second victim had been subjected to a “dreadful ordeal”.
Beattie was ordered to sign the sex offenders’ register for life. He was told he will only be considered for release from prison by a parole board after serving 14 years.
Detective Constable Caroline Middleton said: “Paul Beattie is a dangerous and calculating offender who has never shown a shred of remorse. He believed he was untouchable and could do what he wanted. That ends today with this significant sentence.
“Beattie subjected his victims to terrifying ordeals and did not care about the consequences of his actions upon their lives.
“I would like to praise the victims in these incidents for their bravery in reporting what happened to them. The women showed incredible strength to disclose information and support our investigations. I hope that him being brought to justice can bring some form of closure to them.
“I also hope this can send a message out to other victims of sexual abuse that Cumbria Police will investigate any report thoroughly and sensitively. The fact that Beattie has been sentenced for offences committed both recently and decades ago show that no matter when something happens you can have confidence that justice can be achieved.
“I’d urge any victim of a sexual offence to report it to police.”
