A SWINDON man has been convicted by a jury of rape.

Patrick Williams has been standing trial before Swindon Crown Court since January 5, charged with raping a woman, as well as assault by penetration, inciting a person to engage in sexual activity without consent, and two counts of assault occasioning actual bodily harm.

But after just over three hours of deliberations, the jury returned unanimous guilty verdicts on all five counts.

Williams was unmoved in the dock as the foreman replied “guilty” when asked the jury’s verdict on all five counts.

It had previously been heard how Williams had “degraded” the woman in more than a year of emotional, physical and sexual abuse, making her feel “trapped” and “dirty”.

The 46-year-old, also known as Dean, had wooed her over and made her thought he was “overly nice” but around six-eight weeks later, things changed.

The trial heard how he kicked her down the stairs, held her head underwater, strangled her until she passed out and threatened to cut her hair off.

In his defence, Williams, who was recalled to prison and is currently at HMP Ashfield, claimed that the victim was making the allegations up for “revenge”.

He also said that she “had plenty of opportunity to go to the police”.

Moments after the jury foreman returned the guilty verdicts on Monday morning, Judge Jason Taylor QC said he would adjourn sentencing mid-March to allow for a pre-sentence report to be prepared.

Citing that this is the third time that Williams had been jailed for assaulting a woman, Judge Taylor said: “I can tell you that my preliminary view is that he is dangerous and I am considering a discretionary life service.

“I will not sentence today and I will adjourn for a report from probation.”

It is expected that Williams will be sentenced at the same court in March.