Warrington man jailed for robbing and raping woman after children's party
25-year-old Petrus-Ionut Apostoae carried out the attack in October
Last updated 3rd Feb 2023
A man from Warrington’s been jailed after robbing and raping a woman whilst she slept after hosting a children's birthday party.
25-year-old Petrus-Ionut Apostoae has been jailed for 22 years and 8 months for a series of offences.
He carried out what detectives had described as a truly horrific’ attack in October when he broke into her home in the middle of the night.
The 25-year-old previously pleaded guilty to two counts of rape, one count of burglary, three counts of attempted burglary and one count of attempting to trespass with intent to commit a sexual offence.
In October, Apostoae entered the woman’s home after she had hosted a birthday party for her son.
Whilst she had children in the house, the court heard, Apostoae went into her bedroom, put his hands over her face and raped her.
Prosecutor Louise McClouskey told the judge the woman woke up "to the stuff of nightmares."
After the attack, the court heard Apostoae "tucked her into her bed, asked if she was okay" and "told her not to call the police" all whilst children were in a room next door.
He was later captured on CCTV trying to enter another three properties in the area as well as returning to the victim's address with, the court heard, the intention to commit rape again.
Judge Watson KC heard how Apostoae is of "high risk to the public, particularly to adult women."
“You are to be sentenced for two sets of offences - first occurred in the early hours of 2nd of October last year.
“You broke into her home, once inside you raped her twice and you stole stationary and other items.
“Six weeks later you tried to break into three other houses in the same area and you intended to steal from those properties.
“You also returned to her home and tried to enter again, it is clear that you intended to commit another sexual offence and the only sensible conclusion I can come to is you intended to commit rape again.”
He continued: “All of these offences are particularly serious but the rape offences and the return to the same address six weeks later require a lengthy sentence of imprisonment.
"I have no hesitation in concluding that you are a dangerous offender. You present a high risk of serious harm to the public and the very facts of these offences make it easy to understand why."
Apostoae showed no emotion whilst being sentenced as the judge's summary was delivered through an interpreter.
He was also handed a restraining order preventing him from contacting or approaching the victim for the rest of his life.
"A horrific ordeal"
Detective Inspector Nigel Parr, who led the investigation at Cheshire Constabulary’s Major Investigation Team, said “Apostoae is a dangerous and predatory criminal who subjected his victim to a truly horrific ordeal.`
“He invaded the victim’s home, a place where everyone should feel safe, and committed a heinous sexual assault.
“Thankfully, as a result of the investigation and the amount of evidence gathered, Apostoae had no other option but to plead guilty meaning that the victim has been spared the trauma of having to relive what happened on that night.
“I would like to thank the victim for the strength and bravery she has shown throughout the investigation and hope that this will, in some way, help her rebuild her life.”