A man who abducted a woman as she used a cash point before dragging her into an alleyway and raping her, has been jailed for 15 years.
Callum Barclay, 25, approached the woman and her two male friends as they were taking cash out of a machine in Hartlepool town centre, in the early hours of Sunday October 2022, Newcastle Crown Court was told.
He assaulted and threatened the two men, before dragging the woman to an alleyway where she was raped.
Her friends called police and they managed to find her.
Barclay was convicted by a jury of rape and two counts of sexual assault, along with assault on one of the men who was punched.
DC Andrew Morland, who investigated the crime said: “Barclay is a serious risk to the public and thankfully will now be imprisoned for some time.
“The victim’s life has been completely changed by this incident, leaving her frightened to go out and unable to sleep. Hopefully now Barclay is behind bars she can begin the slow process of rebuilding her life.”
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