Two jailed for raping backpacker

The pair attacked the woman as she was heading home from a night out

Two men have been jailed for raping a backpacker in a "sustained and brutal" attack near Buckingham Palace.

The 20-year-old New Zealand woman was raped in St James's Park, central London, by Ismail Acar and Callem Fearnehough in August last year.

She unsuccessfully tried to escape and feared for her life, the court heard.

Acar and Fearnehough, both 21, from Finsbury Park, north London, admitted rape and robbery. They were jailed for 13 years and 10 years respectively.

Acar also admitted an assault charge.

Offered drink

Southwark Crown Court heard the woman met the men on a night bus while going home after a night out with friends.

Prosecuting, Peter Glenser said: "They offered her, and she took, an unidentified drink from a bottle wrapped in a bag."

After getting off at Trafalgar Square, she accompanied the men to St James's Park where they raped her.

She "screamed, sobbed and begged them to stop," Mr Glenser told the court.

"She was threatened. At some point Acar said to her, 'Shut up or you'll be thrown into the river.'"

I can remember screaming, wailing and crying because something dirty was happening Rape victim

The woman, who cannot be named, said she only had a vague recollection of the attack.

She told the court: "I can remember screaming, wailing and crying because something dirty was happening. Someone was shouting."

She added: "I can just remember crying and wailing, 'Please, please stop.'"

The woman tried to escape from the men but was caught.

"It was like you have a dream and you need to run very fast but you can't, like a nightmare but you can't get away," she said.

Afterwards, "fearing for my life", the woman made a second escape bid which was successful but she had to abandon some of her clothing at the scene.

The woman ran to the end of the Mall and begged for help from a security guard, the court heard. The pair were subsequently arrested in Horse Guards Parade.

'Changed forever'

In a victim impact statement, the woman said: "This traumatic experience has changed my life forever and changed the lives of my family and I feel bad about that."

She added: "I went from being someone outgoing and who enjoyed life to someone who found it difficult to cope being around strangers."

Adrienne Knight, mitigating for father-of-one Acar, said the attack was an "unplanned, chance encounter" that was "completely out of character".

She said Acar "bitterly regrets his terrible behaviour".

Mitigating for Fearnehough, Dafna Spiro said: "This has had an absolutely devastating effect on him and his family."

Sentencing, Judge Nicholas Loraine-Smith said: "This was a sustained and brutal attack by two men on a frail young woman.

"She was, in her own words, screaming and wailing all the time and when she did run away she was caught and brought back by one or other of you."

Acar admitted three counts of rape, assault and robbery. Fearnehough pleaded guilty to two counts of rape and robbery.

Both men were placed on the sex offenders' register for life.

A third man, Dimitri McKenzie-Saunders, was acquitted on all charges.