A MAN who preyed on a woman high on drink and drugs before raping her twice on his sofa has been jailed.

Justin Finnerty, of Roman Way, Bicester, had denied two counts of rape and one of assault by penetration but a jury at Oxford Crown Court took five hours on Tuesday to find him guilty to all counts by a unanimous verdict.

As he was told he must serve an eight-year jail term at Oxford Crown Court yesterday the 22-year old showed no emotion.

Passing sentence, Judge Ian Pringle QC said that Finnerty was ‘a danger’ to women and when he had been interviewed after conviction by the National Probation Service he stuck by his account of events.

Judge Pringle said: “It was put to [the victim] that she had instigated that sex, that is a matter which disturbingly you maintain to this day.

“I find that you are indeed a danger.”

During the trial, which began last week, jurors were told that Finnerty had been on a night out with the woman - who cannot be named for legal reasons, together with others on a night in July last year.

After drinking at a number of pubs Finnerty went on to smoke cannabis at a friend’s house along with his victim.

They, together with Finnerty’s girlfriend, then went back to a house they shared in Bicester.

While there, prosecutors said, he performed a sex act on her before raping her twice on a downstairs sofa while Finnerty’s girlfriend was in an upstairs bedroom.

The court heard that the victim was ‘in a terrible state’ and Finnerty was well aware of her condition when he carried out the rapes.

DNA evidence later showed that semen belonging to Finnerty was found in the woman's body.

Taking to the witness box during his trial he had claimed that they had had consensual sex in the days leading up to the attack, but the jury rejected his claims and found him guilty.

In mitigation yesterday his defence barrister Brent Martin called the offending ‘spur of the moment’ and pointed to his client’s lack of previous convictions.

He said: “That would appear to be his strongest point of mitigation at this stage, for what it’s worth.”

Finnerty was jailed for a total of eight years - made up of eight years for each count of rape and four years for assault by penetration, all to run concurrently.

He was also made subject to an extended licence period upon release of four years.