Man jailed for 15 years after being found guilty of raping woman on night out

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Daniel Cooke, 32, of no fixed address

A man has been jailed for 15 years after being found guilty of raping a woman shortly after meeting her in a nightclub on a night out.

Daniel Cooke, 32, of no fixed address, was found guilty of two counts of rape and one of sexual assault at Nottingham Crown Court on Thursday (December 21).

He was sentenced to a total of 15 years in jail and must serve at least 11, with Judge Coupland saying the severity of the sentence reflected the fact he posed ‘a significant risk to the public’.

Cooke was also given a concurrent two-month sentence for Contempt of Court after verbally abusing the Judge on the third day of the trial.

Detective Constable Stuart Barson, who led the investigation, said: “There was overwhelming CCTV footage in this case showing him forcing the victim down an alley and assaulting her prior to the rape.

“I have spent hours and hours viewing CCTV for this case and the evidence gained is compelling – he had no place to hide.

“This is the most horrifying incident I have investigated to date.

“The impact of this attack has been devastating for the victim but I hope the fact Cooke has now been locked up for a significant time will give her some comfort.”

The jury saw CCTV footage showing Cooke forcing his victim down an alleyway in Mansfield town centre.

He was then seen assaulting her and stopping her from leaving before then raping her in a car park in an alley off Regent Street in the early hours of Sunday July 19 2015.

He told the terrified woman ‘if you make a noise I will strangle you’.

The victim fled after the attack and got in a taxi to go home but before she could leave Cooke also got in the vehicle and told the driver to drop him off in Ollerton.

He was arrested the same day and denied the offences in interview but was found guilty of all three offences.

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