Locations
Keighley, West Yorkshire, BD2
Description
A dangerous rapist who denied his “nasty and vile” crimes in a “vicious” way has begun an extended 16-year sentence.
Samuel Payne, 35, formerly of Keighley, will serve 13 years in custody followed by three years on licence. Sentencing him at Bradford Crown Court, His Honour Judge Roger Thomas KC said: “The offence of rape triggers this question that I have to answer: are you somebody who should be regarded as a significant risk of causing serious harm hereafter to others? My answer to that question is a resounding ‘yes’. There is no other sensible conclusion that I can reach.”
He added: “You quite clearly have a very deep and intractable side to you that is sheer nastiness, in simple terms. That’s reflected in these offences [which] is persistent and determined conduct of a nasty, vicious sort over a long period of time.”
Payne was convicted after trial of multiple offences, including raping one victim whom he threatened with an iron bar, held a knife to her throat, and told: “I’ll twist your neck off.” He also threatened a second victim with rape and murder.
In victim impact statements, one said “fear still lingered in her mind” and that Payne had “erased her emotions,” leaving her “broken.” The other described constant anxiety, panic attacks, and her body in “constant fight or flight” mode.
In mitigation, his barrister argued Payne had suffered “significantly,” living a “miserable life” with mood swings and inability to manage stress: “It may be that his offending is in part a product of that rather than a malevolent characteristic. [The court] is obliged to consider whether this is a cruel and sadistic history or whether there may be other factors in play.”
Judge Thomas, describing mobile phone recordings of Payne’s behaviour as “very nasty and indeed vile” and providing “a very real insight and snapshot into you,” ordered him to register as a sex offender for life. Payne, who appeared via video link from HMP Leeds with arms folded, is also subject to indefinite Sexual Harm Prevention and restraining orders.
The judge noted Payne’s “lack of empathy,” citing his refusal to engage with Probation and persistent denial: “It’s to be hoped that as the years pass by now you make some productive use of your time in prison, and you become a better man when you are released than so far you have been.”