Gloucester man sentenced to 11 years for rape and assault
It took a jury less than one hour to find him guilty
Last updated 17th Nov 2020
A Gloucester man has been sentenced to 11 years in prison for rape and assault.
Petru-Marian Bradu, who is 19 and from Barton Street was sentenced this afternoon (17/11) after a jury took less than an hour to find him guilty earlier this week.
He received nine years for rape and two years for assault with both sentences being served consecutively.
He must serve at least two thirds of the sentence and will be added to the sex offenders register for life.
The conviction relates to an incident on 23 July 2019 where a lone woman was approached whilst walking along Widden Street in Gloucester.
A man, later found to be Bradu, punched her to the head causing her to lose consciousness and when she woke up he was raping her.
A full DNA profile of Bradu was taken after the victim reported the attack, but initially no matches were found on police systems.
He was caught after being arrested for a separate assault in December which he admitted, though despite a DNA match he denied responsibility for the rape and so went to trial.
The jury heard how Bradu tried to use excuses to plead his innocence such as referring to rape myths and stating "well she doesn’t look like she’s been raped" whilst speaking about CCTV footage of the victim after the attack.
The victim took part in the trial via video link which meant that she did not have to be in the presence of Bradu at court.
This is something that can put people off reporting crimes, but officers say making a complaint or going to trial does not necessarily mean having to stand up in court to face your attacker.
Investigating officer DC Steve Martin from the RASSO team said: "This was a particularly vicious incident where the victim was targeted by a stranger who she had never met before.
“She received support from the team at the Hope House Sexual Assault Referral Clinic (SARC) and I have no doubt that this support helped her to find the incredible strength to see this through.
"Stranger rapes are very rare in Gloucestershire however they can unfortunately happen and sadly but unsurprisingly the victim suffered considerably in terms of her mental health as a consequence of the incident.
"The victim has said that the fact that she was believed was incredibly important to her so now that justice has been achieved this will hopefully help her moving forward."