Rapist who broke victim’s jaw has sentence increased
10-YEAR TERM DEEMED TO BE TOO LENIENT
A VICIOUS rapist who broke his victim’s jaw and pulled out her hair in a “savage” attack has had his jail sentence increased.
Raymond James Paternoster, 58, of Old Durham Road, Gateshead, was sentenced to 10-and-a-half years in jail at Newcastle Crown Court in September.
He denied the four counts of rape and three assaults but a jury found him guilty of the horrific crimes after a trial.
The offences, which also involved Paternoster smashing his victim’s head off a wall, happened in November 2017.
But the Solicitor General Robert Buckland QC MP, one of the Government’s most senior legal operatives, weighed in to encourage top judges to increase the sentence.
London’s Appeal Court heard how he punched, kicked and verbally abused his victim during the ordeals. It took six weeks for her injuries to heal sufficiently for her to sleep without pain, and she suffered nightmares and lost weight, the court heard.
In a victim impact statement read out in the trial in Newcastle, his victim said: “As well as the physical injuries are the mental injuries; for weeks after I had trouble sleeping due to nightmares of reliving the rapes and beatings.
“As time has gone on I am coping better, I do feel stronger, although some of the thoughts I have will never fully go away. When I am at home I do feel scared, I still find myself looking over my shoulder frightened that someone will come after me.”
Paternoster denied the offences to a probation officer, the court heard.
Joel Smith, for the Solicitor General, argued the sentence “simply did not reflect the totality of that which he had inflicted upon the victim”.
Nicholas Lumley QC, for Paternoster, agreed his crimes were “serious” and the injuries caused were “really unpleasant”.
But he said the trial judge was “best placed” to assess Paternoster and the sentence passed was “appropriate” for a man of his age and background.
Lord Justice Gross agreed the original sentence “failed to reflect the overall criminality involved” and that it was “unduly lenient”.
He increased Paternoster’s sentence to 13 years imprisonment at the Court of Appeal on December 13.
Lord Justice Gross described the offences as a “sustained incident of a particularly brutish nature”.
Solicitor General Robert Buckland QC MP said: “Paternoster carried out violent and sexual attacks against a woman, leaving her with horrific injuries. I hope the sentence increase can bring some comfort to the victim and provide some closure.”