Supporters of a former taxi driver who dragged a teenager into his flat and pinned her down during a terrifying attack wept as he was jailed.
One woman watching from the public gallery screamed ‘no’ and cried out as John Stanley was handed an 11 year jail term, of which at least seven will have to be served behind bars. The 35 year old tricked the 17-year-old girl into his car back in 2018 and later forced her into his flat before choking her on his bed. She was only able to escape after hitting him over the head and running from the flat
Stanley denied false imprisonment but was convicted by a jury at Liverpool Crown Court earlier this year. Yesterday, at his sentencing hearing, the court heard how he coaxed the girl into his car in the early hours of October 3, 2018, along with a friend and an unidentified man with whom they had been speaking.
READ MORE: Man dragged girl, 17, into flat and pinned her to bed by the neck
He told her he needed help getting home and she later told police she attempted to help him despite feeling uncomfortable. However, when Stanley drove off from the club he quickly dropped off the girl’s friend and the other man separately and then drove the girl to a flat.
She protested the entire way, pleaded with him to call her a taxi and said she wanted to leave. He ignored her, dragging her in the flat by the head and locking them both inside.
After she rebuffed a sexual advance he pinned her down to the bed and choked her until she used a high heel to hit him. She then managed to find the keys to the flat and escape.
Despite CCTV evidence which showed Stanley, the girl, her friend and the other man getting into his car, he denied ever meeting her that night. While the girl had not initially been able to tell police who attacked her officers traced the car registration to Stanley and she later confirmed his identity as the man who attacked her.
Jurors saw through him and convicted him of false imprisonment in May. Stanley later appeared to admit some of what had happened in interviews with the probation service, though not all of what the girl said.
Judge Brian Cummings, QC, said the timeline of events outlined by the girl was the whole truth and lambasted Stanley for “minimising” what he had done even after he was found guilty. Referring to the evidence given by the girl and the police, Judge Cummings said: “Those are the actual facts of the case, not the untruthful and minimising version you gave in the pre sentence report. It was an entirely terrifying ordeal for the victim.”
Judge Cummings said Stanley posed a threat to the public and handed him an extended sentence of 11 years. He will have to serve a minimum of seven in custody before being eligible for consideration for parole. Two supporters of Stanley watching from the public gallery were upset as the judge handed out his sentence. One woman immediately began crying as a visibly angry man comforted her.
Judge Cummings temporarily halted sentencing after the reaction. He said: “I know tensions are running high but I must be able to continue to sentence uninterrupted.”
The pair then left the court, though the man later returned to hear the rest of Stanley’s sentence, which includes a restraining order preventing him from contacting the victim and a criminal behaviour order meaning he would have to notify authorities of his conviction before seeking certain types of employment.
