A YOUNG man grabbed a stranger as she walked through a town centre in the early hours of the morning and raped her in an alley, a court was told.

Handing down a seven-year jail term to 22-year-old Stephen Ridyard, a judge at Canterbury Crown Court said the attack was drug-fuelled and predatory and showed the victim no mercy.

Ridyard, of Birdwood Avenue, Deal, claimed that although he and his 26-year-old victim were strangers, she still agreed to have sex with him.

The court was told the victim had missed her train home in the early hours of October 1 and decided to get a taxi. She was walking down London Road and saw Ridyard sitting on a wall.

He first asked for a cigarette then, walking alongside her, asked for sex saying he was called Ben. She refused but he pulled her into alley where he raped her. She reported the incident two days later and forensic samples led police to Ridyard who was later arrested.

He told the court he had taken a line of cocaine before going out and was smoking cannabis. He felt calm and relaxed but during the evening with friends, he argued with his girlfriend and she broke off the relationship.

"I was sitting on a wall feeling upset and thinking I wanted to have sex with someone, just to get my own back on her," he said.

Ridyard will serve half of the seven years, less 211 days he has been in custody. He will be on the Sex Offenders' Register for life.

Jailing Ridyard, Judge Adele Williams said: "This was a drug fuelled predatory offence on a young girl who was doing no more than walking down London Road in Deal about 1.30am. You were sitting there waiting for a lone female to come down the road. You showed her no mercy.

"I bear in mind you are only 22 but there can be no credit because you contested this matter which shows no insight and no remorse."

Police in Deal have welcomed the sentence. Det Insp Steve Bridges said: “This was a very unpleasant assault and thankfully one that is comparatively rare in South Kent.

"This is a significant sentence awarded for a serious and predatory sex attack and comes as a result of a very thorough investigation."