A man convicted of raping a woman after a Christmas party has had his appeal request refused by high court judges.

Simon Coombes, 35, previously of Queensway in Mildenhall, and another man, who could not be named for legal reasons, were sentenced in 2021.

Coombes’ request for further time to file an appeal against his conviction and sentence was refused on Friday by the Court of Appeal.

The two men had given the woman a lift after a Christmas party but instead of driving her home they had taken her to a flat in Mildenhall and raped her, Ipswich Crown Court previously heard.

Because of her state of intoxication the woman couldn’t remember the attack but contacted the police after discovering her clothes had been ripped and she had a number of injuries including bruising and abrasions.

Coombes and his co-defendant had both denied raping the woman in December 2018 but were convicted by a jury after a trial.

Both men was jailed for 12 years and six months with an extended licence period of five years.

The Court of Appeal heard a summary from Lady Justice Andrews on February 9.

Despite describing the victim as ‘totally wasted’ Coombes had refused to accept someone of that level of intoxication could not consent said Justice Andrews.

The judge also said Coombes had said: “It’s the 21st century everyone has drunk sex if she regrets it afterwards it’s her fault.”

The court heard Mr Coombes was repeatedly warned about his disruptive behaviour in front of the jury which he admitted was due in part to his taking cocaine.

She added Mr Coombes “most unattractively” blamed the injuries the victim suffered on her husband without “the slightest shred of evidence” to implicate him.

Coombes had requested an extension of time to appeal his conviction and sentence following a refusal and he hoped to produce fresh evidence.

However, Lady Justice Andrews said the three judges in the Court of Appeal hearing were satisfied there was nothing in the material submitted which would give rise to any concern about conviction and the evidence he wished to submit was “nothing more than assertions”.

The court heard that after the verdict he had become very critical of his legal representatives but the judge said his defense case had been organised competently and dismissed this claim.

His defence barrister was “professionally embarrassed” after Coombes accused her of working in league with the prosecution because he discovered that barristers, including her, both prosecute and defend. 

Lady Justice Andrews said before the verdict he had been more than satisfied with his representation and even described the cross examination of the victim as ‘brilliant’ and sent a card saying ‘sorry I haven’t been the easiest client to work with” with a smiley face.

She concluded that there are no grounds for appeal.