A man who raped a woman in west Suffolk months after he was released from prison for a different rape has been jailed.

Domonic Rowan, 58, of no fixed abode but formerly of Hackney, appeared at Ipswich Crown Court for sentencing on Friday.

Rowan, also known as Aaron Royer, had been released from an eight-year prison sentence for kidnap and rape in the summer of 2016.

He was on licence and a registered sex offender and in 2017 he got the contact details of his next victim, but Judge Emma Peters said it was not clear how he got these.

The defendant had briefly met the victim once before, but they were “effectively strangers”.

Rowan offered the victim a secretary position in a business that did not exist as a ruse to set up a meeting with the woman in Suffolk in her home to discuss the possibility.

The victim brought the defendant back to her house from the railway station and they drank together and she felt “surprisingly tired”, and there was a suspicion during the trial she had been drugged but there was no evidence for it, Judge Peters said.

Rowan had previously been jailed for rapeRowan had previously been jailed for rape (Image: Suffolk police)

The woman made it clear she was not interested in sex but allowed Rowan to sleep with her on the sofa and while she was asleep, he raped her and she only realised the next morning.

The incident happened in the Bury St Edmunds area.

The victim contacted police and reported the rape and for the next five years the defendant was on the run.

He was arrested in Blackpool in 2022 after police identified his position using the location of his mobile phone.

The victim gave a statement explaining her trauma: “He has taken away my ability to trust. He’s taken away my strength to be me. I no longer know who I am.

“My life has changed beyond recognition. I despise the person I have become.

“My mental health is so much worse with crippling social anxieties."

She added: “I used to be a social butterfly, loving to spend time with friends and family and chatting to anyone. This has all changed. I no longer have a social life.

“Now I’m isolated for those who were once close to me. I’ve not had a relationship with anyone since the assault.

“I do not feel I will be able to trust anyone enough to have a relationship again."

Judge Peters describe the defendant as “dangerous” and handed him 12 years in prison with six years on licence.