A conviction for rape after a night out at the former Canberra nightclub Kokomo's has landed a 34-year-old man with a jail sentence of more than five years.
Earlier this year, Chidi Okwechime was found guilty by an ACT Supreme Court jury of two counts of rape and one count of choking the woman.
The woman told the court she had gone out to the city after her cousin's birthday party.
She met Okwechime and his friends at the now-closed nightclub Kokomo's and spent time with them after the friend she was with went home.
The woman told the court she later left the club and had gone to a home with Okwechime, one of his friends and another woman because she thought they were going to a party and she needed to charge her phone.
But she said when she got there the other couple went into a bedroom and she was left alone with Okwechime.
The woman told the court she tried to resist and protested against his advances, but he did not stop until she was "bawling".
Okwechime maintained the encounter was consensual.
Okwechime said he was surprised by the accusation when the woman told him he had raped her.
"He said he was shocked and bewildered about what she had said," Justice Norrish said.
Justice Norrish acknowledged there did not appear to have been any premeditation.
"This offence must be seen as opportunistic," he said.
But he said that did not mean it was not a serious crime.
"There was a degree of force," Justice Norrish said.
The woman and her parents delivered victim impact statements about the ongoing impacts of the crime.
Justice Norrish acknowledged the pain the victim and her family had experienced.
"A sexual assault must, of course, be a horrific experience," Justice Norrish said.
But he dismissed concerns expressed by the family that they faced an ongoing threat from Okwechime.
Nonetheless, Justice Norrish said Okwechime needed to be adequately punished to deter others.
He has imposed a jail term of five years and three months with a non-parole period of three years.
Okwechime will not be eligible for parole until 2025.
