A ‘perfect gentleman’ rapist who subjected a divor

A ‘perfect gentleman’ rapist who subjected a divorced mother
to a nightmare rape ordeal and then stole money from her has been
jailed for eight years.

Michael Travers was ‘bent on seduction’ but when the 40-year-old
said she was not interested he put her through a brutal and
prolonged sex attack.

The victim’s horrendous ordeal had begun after she made the
mistake of agreeing to let jobless Travers, 38, ‘crash’ on her sofa
for the night, Snaresbrook Crown Court was told.

A jury found Travers guilty of rape and indecent assault.

He was also convicted of theft of pnds stlg 50 which he took with
him after raping her.

Father-of-one Travers, of Haig Road West, Plaistow, had denied
the charges.

As the jury foreman read out the unanimous guilty verdicts,
Travers’s girlfriend – who was seated in the public gallery
– cried out ‘Oh no,’ repeatedly.

Sentencing Travers Judge Alan Hitching said that during the rape
he ‘pinned her to the bed and banged her head against the wall.

‘
Judge Hitching told him that there were aggravating features in
the offence including the ‘degree of force’ he used and the prolonged
and repeated nature of the attack:
‘The effect on the victim is in my judgement an important matter.

There is a full statement indicating the traumatic effect your conduct
has had on her.

‘The jury observed the difficuties she had at various stages to
give evidence cogently and effectively.

‘Finally it must be stated that during the course of events on
that evening at a point which is not entirely clear you aggravated the
matter by actually stealing pnds stlg 50 from her.

‘
Judge Hitching sentenced Travers to eight years imprisonment for
the charge of rape, to run concurrently with two years for indecent
assault and one year for theft.

Before leaving the dock to begin his sentence Travers – smartly
dressed in a grey suit with red and white polka-dot tie – turned to
the jurors and said quietly: ‘The only thing I can say is that you
have made a terrible mistake.

‘
Mr Michael Bowes, prosecuting, said that she did not know
the defendant and had a brief drink with him after meeting him
near her home.

‘He was very polite and said that they should go for a
drink,’ continued counsel.

The jury were told that she declined the invitation at first but
eventually agreed to go with him to a nearby pub where they sat
outside.

Mr Bowes said that they later went to her home for about half an
hour where they chatted together: ‘He behaved as a perfect gentleman.

‘
Counsel explained that on June 14 the victim was alone ‘putting
her feet up’ when Travers knocked on her door and asked if she wanted
to go out for a drink again.

And when she refused Travers said he would buy a bottle of wine
for them to enjoy together.

‘He was charming and polite and she agreed,’ said counsel.

The court heard that they talked together until it became light
again in the early hours of June 15 when she told Travers that he
would have to walk home because he had missed the last bus.

When he asked if he could ‘crash on the sofa’ she ‘felt
uncomfortable’ and agreed to let him stay in a separate bedroom,
continued Mr Bowes.

But later when she was on her way to bed, wearing a nightdress
and bath robe, she ‘felt him behind her’ following her into her room.

The jury were told that the terrified woman’s attempts to push
Travers away proved fruitless as he bundled her onto her bed and
removed a pair of swimming trunks he was wearing.

‘As she struggled he laughed.

He said she was a little Miss Prim
and he would teach her,’ said counsel.

When Travers had finished he told her that it had been ‘a bit of
an anti-climax’ before kissing her and saying he would be back.

The woman, who felt ‘very dirty,’ then had a bath before
reporting the matter at Ilford police station.

She had noticed that pnds stlg 50 was missing from her purse.

Mr Bowes said it was on June 25 that by ‘complete chance’ she saw
Travers in the street while being driven along in the Manor Park area
in a police car.

Giving evidence in the five day trial he agreed with the victim’s
version of events leading up to the incident itself.

But he claimed that she eventually let him into her bed where
they started kissing, but when she mentioned AIDS he went out to buy
some contraceptives from a nearby all-night garage.

He told the jury that sex was consentual thereafter and denied
stealing her money.

The court was told that Travers had previous convictions for
armed robbery but none for sex offences.

ENDS