A VIOLENT boyfriend who subjected his victim to a night of sexual assaults, physical abuse and humiliation has been warned by a judge to expect a significant jail sentence.

The only sound from the public gallery as four guilty verdicts were returned by a jury at Swindon Crown Court was a loud exhalation of pent-up breath and a quiet whimper.

It followed a five-day trial in which the Swindon man, in his early 20s was accused of subjecting his girlfriend of five years to a night-long ordeal of bullying violence of rape, sexual assault and battery.

READ MORE: Mum feared she would die during ordeal, court hears

The defendant, who we have not named to protect his victim’s identity, will be sentenced on November 18.

Jurors were told the attacks on the mother of his child happened on September 27 last year. He pulled her hair, slapped and throttled her, ordered her to kneel for what she said felt like hours and threw food at her.

He told her the only way the violence would stop was if she changed their daughter’s surname, filled in his tax rebate form for him, completed his chemistry coursework and gave him oral sex.

As EastEnders played on the TV, she performed a sex act on him. The sobbing woman told detectives in a video interview played to the jury: “He wasn’t even looking at me. He was watching the telly.” She cried during the ordeal but did as she was told. They went on to have full sex.

Earlier that night he had told her she wouldn’t be allowed to sleep in the bed she told police. She asked him if she was allowed to sleep on the bed next to her daughter, but was ignored.

“I just lay down on the top of the bed in my clothes and I just quietly cried until I fell asleep,” she said.

The next day she told her boyfriend’s mother she planned to go into town to buy A4 paper for a chemistry project. Instead, she went first to her mother’s house, searched online for support for domestic abuse victims and later went to the police.

Her boyfriend, who has previous convictions for violence, maintained his innocence throughout the trial. He claimed he had broken up with the woman that evening, she had had sex with him in an attempt to repair the relationship.

But in his closing speech, prosecutor Rob Welling pointed to the defendant’s behaviour in cross-examination when his mood switched from charm to anger.

“Can you imagine him behaving that way in the privacy of his room? Bullying her. Hectoring her. And, ultimately, forcing her into sexual acts she did not want,” he asked the jury.

“He is by his record a violent and aggressive man. He showed that violence in his room and in other places towards his girlfriend on that night.”

Lyall Thompson, defending, said: “If this was a popularity contest on television and you had to vote for who you liked best the victim would win hands down. She came across as a much more likeable person, but this case is not about who you like. Not about who performs best in the witness box.”

It took the jury little more than three hours to convict him of all four counts – rape, engaging in non-consensual sexual activity and two assaults. A charge of false imprisonment was withdrawn.

Horrifying abuse left scar

THE victim’s toddler daughter came to her air as she was being throttled, Swindon Crown Court heard.

In an emotional police interview played to the jury, the victim broke down in tears as she told detectives about the night her boyfriend assaulted and raped her.

The terror began as he collected her from college. They went to McDonald’s in Greenbridge, where he made a disparaging comment about a blonde girl, angering the man’s girlfriend.

On the way back to his house, he pulled the car over and started badgering the victim about an incident where he claimed she had been unfaithful. He pulled her hair and punched her in the head.

When they got back to his house, the man told his young daughter: “Mummy has to go upstairs because she’s been naughty.”

In his bedroom, he slapped her and claimed she was worthless before ordering her downstairs to do the laundry.

On her return, he pinned her to the bed and throttled her with both hands. “I couldn’t breathe and I thought I was going to die,” she told detectives.

“His mouth was millimetres away from my face and he was telling me he hates me. He stopped because our daughter jumped up and said ‘mummy’s hurt’.”

Immediately he changed, the woman said. “He told me to get out of his face so I went downstairs and did the washing up.”

The abuse continued, with the boyfriend angrily throwing a McDonald’s takeaway across the room after he found staff had not put any barbecue sauce in with the order.

After he had raped her, he was said to have ignored her and played on his phone. She told detectives: “I just lay down on the end of the bed in my clothes. I just quietly cried until I fell asleep.”

The woman added: “He made me feel so dirty. I just wanted to get into the shower.”

'Expect double-figures sentence'

THE boyfriend was told to expect a prison sentence that could be measured in double figures.

Judge Jason Taylor QC opted against sentencing the defendant on Friday, when the Swindon jury delivered its guilty verdicts.

But speaking to the man’s barrister, Judge Taylor pulled no punches: “The reality is I won’t proceed to sentencing today. But it is quite clear there will have to be a significant custodial sentence.

“In due course the starting point is going to be somewhere in double figures.”

Addressing the defendant directly, the judge added: “You know that you have been convicted of incredibly serious offences. I will decide in due course the length of that when I have heard submissions from the prosecution and counsel.”

The Sentencing Council guidelines for rape put the punishment at anywhere between four years imprisonment to 19 years in custody.

Having been found guilty following a trial, this defendant can expect to receive a higher sentence than he would had he pleaded guilty at the first opportunity.

He was remanded in custody. The sentencing hearing will be on November 18.