A MAN convicted of two rape offences on the same woman is starting a 16-year prison sentence.

Rory Martin Robinson denied both charges, arising from different dates, at a plea hearing last August.

The 40-year-old defendant, of Wylam Street, Stanley, maintained his denials during a trial at Durham Crown, claiming the first incident, when both parties had a lot to drink, was consensual, instigated by the complainant, and the second did not take place at all.

But on the seventh day of the hearing the jury returned unanimous guilty verdicts on both counts.

Following a short adjournment for consideration of sentence, Judge Jonathan Carroll imposed consecutive sentences of ten and six years, telling the gas mains fitter he took advantage of the “extreme vulnerability” of the victim at the time.

Robinson will now be subject to lifetime registration as a sex offender.