Locations
Toppesfield Road, Great Yeldham, Halstead, Essex, CO9
Description
A 22-year-old rapist who isolated his victim from friends and family to control her movements 24/7 has been jailed for five years.
Marc Cheeney inflicted constant emotional abuse over four months, regularly belittling and degrading her, culminating in him raping her at an address in Halstead and leaving her to take a taxi home, Chelmsford Crown Court heard.
The sentence means Cheeney will miss the birth of his new partner's child later this month.
Prosecutor Richard Potts read the victim's impact statement, which described how Cheeney ruined occasions like her school prom and left her in constant fear.
It read: “I spent every night crying and crying and questioning what I did wrong to make me deserve this.
“Every time I saw him I prepared myself for him to belittle me.
"Things such as my prom were ruined due to him – I just wanted to enjoy being a young girl.”
She added: “When I reported him to the police, I only became more afraid – I was scared he would come after me.
“I worry he will do this again and again to other people.
“I am proud of myself for reporting him but nothing will ever completely heal me from the mental pain I suffer.
“Knowing he has received punishment has given light to my life knowing I can be at peace.”
Cheeney, of Toppesfield Road, Great Yeldham, admitted controlling and coercive behaviour but denied rape, only to be convicted by a jury.
Mitigating, Daniel O’Malley said Cheeney's actions stemmed from poor anger management and jealousy, adding: “By his own admission, his conduct towards the complainant was simply disgusting.”
Judge Jamie Sawyer told Cheeney: “You attempted to stop her wearing a skirt to school.
“You used the Life 360 tracking application to monitor her movements.
“She left the house in a taxi and was observed by the taxi driver to be very upset.
“It is very sad to see how you thought a relationship should develop and how you behaved to a young woman.”
He added: “You are from a loving, supportive family, which begs that question – where did you get attitudes like this from?
“They don’t just spring up from nowhere.”
Cheeney also received a 10-year restraining order and must provide indefinite notifications about his whereabouts upon release. He will serve two-thirds of his sentence before licence.