'Bible' rapist's nine years' jail

The judge called father-of-four Nicholas Vann 'a sexual bully'

A bus driver who forced a woman to read the Bible before raping her has been jailed for nine years.

Cardiff Crown Court heard that vicar's son Nicholas Vann, made the woman read from the Old Testament before forcing her to submit to his sexual demands.

Judge Stephen Hopkins called him a "sexual bully and sexual deviant".

Vann, 37, from Machen, south Wales, had denied rape and assault but was found guilty by a jury.

Vann's father Paul, who is a police chaplain and a vicar in Machen, was ejected from court for shouting at the judge as he passed sentence in the court.

The trial heard that Nicholas Vann chatted up a passenger, 22, and later took her away to a seaside bed and breakfast.

Prosecutor Ieuan Morris said: "The pair went out for a meal but the evening soon turned sour. He forced himself upon her when they got back to the bed and breakfast.

"He grabbed her head, bent her over the bed and shouted: 'Read the Bible'. He had book-marked a page about women having to be submissive to men.

'Selfish and inconsiderate'

"He then forced her to have sex with him. He was forceful and perverted."

Judge Hopkins told Vann: "You are a controlling, selfish and inconsiderate man - a sexual bully and a sexual deviant.

"On the weekend at a seaside bed and breakfast you raped her and treated her as a sexual object for your own pleasure.

"You used the Bible to make her submit and she suffered for your beliefs."

Vann, a father-of-four, has been recently living at his parents' home.

He had insisted the pair enjoyed consensual sex but was found guilty by a jury last month.

Speaking after the sentencing Vann's father said: "I was very distressed. The judge was slamming my son so I told him he was wrong.

"I was ejected from the court and I have since written to Judge Hopkins apologising for my behaviour."