'Devil' who raped woman in Oxfordshire hotel has jail time increased by Court of Appeal

Hotel manager Paul Harris, 36, was jailed for eight years and nine months last December after he admitted holding the woman against her will, rape and forcing her to engage in sexual activity.

But that jail time has now been increased to 12 years after the Court of Appeal agreed with lawyers for the Attorney General that the earlier sentence was unduly lenient.

Lady Justice Macur, delivering the judgement, said: “As far as culpability is concerned it appears to us that this was a course of behaviour which was persistent and which has led to significant psychological harm.

There was the use of a dangerous object [a bottle, used as a sex toy].

“There was additional humiliation and degradation by the use of a belt as a dog leash. It was a sustained incident over the course of several hours.”

Paul Harris' custody shot Picture: TVP

The fact the encounter was filmed was the ‘cause of great humiliation’ to the victim, she added.

READ MORE: Rapist filmed sick sexual abuse at Oxfordshire hotel

Last year, Oxford Crown Court heard Harris had held his victim against her will for two to three days, forced her to strip naked on camera and raped her in a laundry cupboard.

The hotel manager tied a belt around her neck and ordered she crawl across the floor of his room ‘like a dog’.

He then filmed her sobbing in fear as she was forced to perform her perform sex acts on herself using the neck of a glass bottle and a sex toy.

The victim, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, said she felt she’d been living in a ‘horror movie’. She added: “Never in my life will I trust a single soul again, not even my family. I feel absolutely numb.”

Middle Aston House Picture: GOOGLE

Jailing him for eight years and nine months, Recorder of Oxford Judge Ian Pringle QC said of Harris’ sick film: “She pleaded with you not to make her do these things and you insisted under threats to her that she did.

“It was utterly degrading and truly appalling behaviour by you.”

Paul Harris' custody shot Picture: TVP

Harris, of Bilston, Wolverhampton, told police officers he’d been trying to get ‘pay back’ after his victim scratched him. He described himself as a ‘devil’ when he lost his temper.

READ MORE: Court of Appeal to consider 'devil' rapist's sentence

Appearing before the Court of Appeal this morning, Paul Jarvis, for the Attorney General, said the Recorder of Oxford had dealt with the sentencing hearing in December ‘impeccably’.

But he raised the question of totality – and whether the overall sentence reflected Harris’ offending. The judge had taken a 10 year starting point for the enforced sexual activity charges and 11 years for the rape, he said. The sentences were then reduced by a fifth to give Harris credit for his guilty pleas and the jail time ordered to run concurrently, making a total sentence of eight years and nine months.

READ MORE: Detective reacts to jail time for hotel room rapist

The starting point for the rape count was ‘significantly below where it should have been’, the barrister said. There were additional aggravating features that could have pushed the rape into the top category on the sentencing guidelines given to all judges when considering how to deal with cases. Mr Jarvis said: “There was, certainly, if not an abuse of trust an abuse of power.”

Jonathan Coode, defending, opposed the Attorney General’s submissions. His client had pleaded guilty to the rape charge on a basis that he should have known his victim was not consenting to the sexual activity given the previous ordeal to which he’d subjected her. Harris had no previous convictions and had excellent references.