Five life sentences have been assigned to a guy who repeatedly raped a lady, physically attacked her, and psychologically abused her.
At a house in Hove in April 2022, Charles Durdle, 26, of Blatchington Road, first sexually assaulted a woman in her 20s.
Durdle kept virtually daily rape of her throughout the following months, up to September 2022, kept her apart from her family and friends, and dominated practically all elements of her life.
Her physical condition declined considerably; she dropped 38 kg during eighteen months.
Durdle left asphyxiation injuries on her throat after once tying a noose around her neck and pulling it tightly till she could not breathe.
Police first received reports of Durdle’s misconduct in September 2022, when his victim saw him forwarding two of their sexual tapes to a juvenile friend. She also revealed earlier episodes of physical violence and threats to kill her.
He was quickly apprehended, discovered to have broken an existing Sexual Harm Prevention Order, and sent back into custody.
Durdle was subsequently charged with five counts of rape, two counts of assault by penetration, one count each of making indecent images of a child, actual bodily harm, intentional strangulation, controlling and coercive behaviour and breaching a Sexual Harm Prevention Order.
At Lewes Crown Court on Friday, 20 October, he entered a guilty plea to all counts and received five life sentences to run concurrently alongside a minimum jail term of ten years and two months.
Along with an indefinite restraining order, he will be on the Sex Offenders’ Register for a lifetime.