A 21-year-old sex fiend was today given an 18 year extended jail sentence for the Christmas Day rape of a reveller in the town.

Tudor Tofoi and a Romanian pal – who is still on the run – stalked their female victim, who had been enjoying a festive drink.

They followed her to a block of flats in Pencester Court and both brutally raped her, Canterbury Crown Court heard.

Tofoi, of High Street, Dover stood impassive as Judge Adele Williams told him: "You are a highly intelligent young man who is arrogant and manipulative. You have expressed no remorse for your actions.

"This was a violent and brutal rape which has caused your victim to suffer ongoing psychological harm."

The judge said Tofoi – who fled the UK after reading on KentOnline he was being hunted – posed a danger to women.

She passed a 15 year custodial sentence – of which he must serve at least 10 years before he can be considered for parole – and added another three extra years on licence.

The attacker had been found guilty by a jury after more than six and a half hours of deliberations.

The guilty verdict and sentence were watched by the victim, who sat with a police officer in the public gallery and wept as the judge told her attacker: "You thought nothing of your victim. Your only concern was your own sexual gratification."

The judge had earlier commended case officer DC Joanne Bird and colleague DC Julian Skeeth for their ”thorough and painstaking” investigation.

The court heard how DC Skeeth trawled through footage from 84 separate cameras dotted about the town to map the pair stalking their victim.

Tofoi fled abroad but his mother later travelled to Belgium to persuade him to return – and was praised by the judge for her actions.

The rapist had told how he had read an account of the attack on KentOnline and he and his friend bought tickets to travel to Romania but only got to Belgium before their money ran out.

Prosecutor Deborah Charles had told the court how Tofoi "thought that nobody would believe the word of a drunken girl".

She told the rapist: "You, together with your friend, decided to take advantage of a vulnerable girl who you would have your way with.

"You grabbed her and she punched you in the face before you dragged her down an alley."

The jury heard how a friend of the victim, who had been talking with her on on a mobile phone, heard her tell the men to stop touching her and to get away.

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