A dangerous rapist who abducted and repeatedly attacked an unconscious teenager in a fake taxi has been jailed.

Peter Wrotchford prowled Folkestone in a van at 4am before finding his victim alone, drunk and unable to walk.

The 46-year-old tricked her into thinking he was a cab driver, then subjected her to a terrifying five-hour ordeal.

Wrotchford’s brave survivor attended Canterbury Crown Court today to watch him get locked up for 18 years.

The 19-year-old told the court in a victim impact statement how the harrowing events had impacted her life.

“As part of the trial I found giving evidence extremely upsetting and even worse when it was suggested I was lying about what I said,” she explained.

“I now don’t go out as much as I used to, I don't like being on my own and feel down all the time.

“I even feel uncomfortable sleeping with one leg out of the duvet cover.

“When men approach me and call me ‘darling’ or ‘babe’ at work, I find this really uncomfortable and derogatory.

“It didn’t really used to bother me.”

A jury heard in February Wrotchford, a former Army soldier, attached onto his van magnetic signs for the community project he volunteered for, to trick his victim.

He spotted her stumbling in the gutter as she tried making her way home from a nightclub.

CCTV played in court showed Wrotchford’s car pass her by, then circle back to pick her up.

The teenager got into the back of the vehicle and asked to be taken home, but Wrotchford, of Ashley Avenue, Folkestone, drove her to a secluded pull-off area away from the town centre and sexually assaulted her.

He then drove to Farthing Common car park before returning home and changing his clothes, stopping at a petrol station to buy a chocolate bar and water, and then driving to a lay-by on the A20 at Frogholt - all while the teenager lay half-naked and unconscious in the back seat.

It was here that Wrotchford sexually assaulted the young woman again and raped her, before she woke up not knowing where she was.

During a police interview played during the trial, she said: “As I woke up I was thinking, I don’t know what’s happened, I don’t know where I am. My bra was off and my pants and underwear were only on one leg.”

"I don't like being on my own and feel down all the time. I even feel uncomfortable sleeping with one leg out of the duvet cover..."

“When I woke up he was masturbating, and he kept telling me to give him a kiss and then I said ‘no, just take me home’, but he just kept on touching himself and asking me to kiss him.

“I was really scared, I didn’t say anything else because I didn’t want to say the wrong thing in case he did something else to me.”

The teenager told police that Wrotchford did eventually drive her to a friend’s house, and as she got out of the car he told her "I’m not going to forget you".

Wrotchford claimed during the five-day trial she had flagged him down claiming a group of men had been harassing her.

Giving evidence, Wrotchford argued they had consensual sex after he smoked cannabis, adding: “There was nothing about her that made me think she was too drunk to consent.”

But Martin Yale, prosecuting, pointed out she had drunk so much, she became unconscious.

By 8.30am the next morning she was still two-and-a-half times the drink drive limit, he said.

The Recorder, Judge Simon Stirling, ruled Wrotchford was a “dangerous” offender.

He added: “Bearing in mind her condition, that was a form of abduction.

“Later you removed that sign knowing that you had sexually assaulted her and might be identified from it.

"It would have been as plain as day that she neither consented nor was capable of consenting..."

“You had taken her to secluded locations where you would not be observed and to avoid the risk of detection.

“Having regard to the state she was in, it amounted to a prolonged period of abduction, during which you committed these offences.

“Her level of intoxication was such that she was incapable of consenting to any sexual activity or was asleep.

“It would have been as plain as day that she neither consented nor was capable of consenting.”

Kieran Brand, mitigating, highlighted Wrotchford had no previous convictions and had set up a community project providing help for those suffering with anxiety and depression.

Mr Brand explained Wrotchford suffered depression and, at the time of his offending, was a carer for his mother.

Wrotchford, who was supported by family in the public gallery, will serve two-thirds of his time in prison before the parole board will consider him safe for release.

He will then be subject to an extended licence for four years.

Wrotchford was also handed sexual harm prevention order, banning him from having a female inside his car unless she knows about his convictions.

He will also be subject to a lifetime of notification requirements.

After the sentencing, Detective Constable Chris Brett, of the Kent and Essex Serious Crime Directorate, said: "Tackling violence against women and girls is one of Kent Police's key priorities and part of that work is bringing offenders like Wrotchford to justice.

"His actions on the night of this offence were despicable and I am pleased he will now be in prison, and off the streets of Folkestone, for a considerable amount of time.

"I would like to pay tribute to the victim's courage throughout the investigation and court proceedings, and I hope the quick arrest of this offender and the sentence now imposed assist her as she rebuilds her life."