A woman was subjected to "a prolonged and horrific" sexual attack after becoming separated from friends on a night out.
Ablolom Okbazge was jailed for the heinous sexual attack on a lone woman who became separated from her friends while on a night out in Wigan town centre. Bolton Crown Court heard how Okbazge approached the 37-year-old victim before taking her down a side alley off King Street to a more secluded area in the early hours of December 18 2021.
The court heard Okbazge, 27, of no fixed abode, raped the traumatised victim, subjecting her to a "prolonged and horrific" ordeal. Okbazge was arrested at the Brittania Hotel in Standish the following day where he was remanded in custody until his trial.
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Detective Constable Ray Williams of Greater Manchester Police’s Wigan division said: “This has been a very traumatic ordeal for the victim from the moment she was approached in the street and led into an alleyway by Ablolom Okbazge, right up to the present day. What Okbazge did that day is likely to affect the victim for the rest of her life and the trauma will not simply go away just because the court process has concluded.
“I would like to thank the victim for her resilience and bravery in reporting this incident to the police and giving us the opportunity to put a dangerous man in prison. I believe that because of her bravery, this has prevented the same thing happening to somebody else.
“It is my hope that the sentence handed to him today will provide both the victim and members of the community some comfort and reassurance that he will not be able to put another person through the same trauma that the victim experienced in the early hours of that day in December."
Okbazge was found guilty of rape. He was jailed for nine years and was also placed on the sex offenders register for life.
Detective Constable Williams added: “ Greater Manchester Police will not tolerate such predatory behaviour within the communities we serve. We want all members of our community, especially women and girls, to feel they are not at risk of harm when simply walking the streets of Greater Manchester and going about their daily lives.
“You may have noticed a high visibility presence during the night-time economy in various towns across the Greater Manchester Police force area. This is part of our renewed drive to make our communities safer, particularly for women and girls during the hours of darkness. We regularly have officers in uniform as well as plain clothed officers patrolling our town’s as well as the city centre who will identify and challenge predatory behaviour and deal with it accordingly.”
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