Zachery Owens: Rapist whose victim jumped from window jailed

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A rapist whose victim had to jump from a second-floor window to escape her ordeal has been jailed for 19 years.

Zachery Owens, 26, snatched the woman from the street and forced her into a car before the attack in January.

Judge Barbara Mensah, sentencing at Luton Crown Court, branded Owens "every woman's worst nightmare".

He previously admitted rape, kidnap, assault by penetration and driving offences

The court heard that the 27-year-old woman had been grabbed around the throat and bundled into a BMW where Owens raped her.

He then drove her to her flat in Hemel Hempstead, where he intended to continue the abuse.

'Frightening and appalling'

Prosecutor Simon Wilshire told the court the the quick-thinking victim told Owens she would go in first to shut her dog away.

She went to the balcony and tried to lower herself down to the next floor, but fell.

From the first floor balcony she fell again, hitting the ground with a "loud thud."

After her escape, Owens, of Lawn Lane, Hemel Hempstead, fled the scene.

The woman spent two days in hospital where she was treated for injuries including cuts and a fractured wrist and elbow.

In a statement read to the court, she said: "It feels like my independence has been taken from me. I can't walk to the shops without feeling scared."

Judge Mensah told Owens: "Your actions were so frightening and appalling she was prepared to exit from her second floor window to get away from you.

"You must have known how frightened she was."

Warwick Alesson, defending, said Owens expressed remorse and shame for what he had done.