Sex attack 'woman's worst nightmare' - judge

A 29-year-old Christchurch man has been jailed for nine years for a street sex attack on a teenager a judge described as "a woman's worst nightmare".

Pre-sentence reports said Gary Shane Ian Nicholas was still in denial even though he had pleaded guilty.

He was still assessed as a high risk of re-offending, said Christchurch District Court Judge Graeme Noble.

Nicholas admitted sexually violating a 16-year-old girl who was walking with her boyfriend at night in the Christchurch suburb of New Brighton when they were approached by Nicholas.

He confronted them, threatened to kill the girl if she did not have sex, and then raped her while the boyfriend ran to get help from the nearby Kate Sheppard retirement home.

Defence counsel David Bunce said Nicholas was remorseful and the offending had been out of character. He suggested it may have arisen from the combined effects of medication and alcohol.

He said Nicholas had empathy for his victim and had expressed contrition in a letter to the court.

His family and employers had provided letters and references and were struggling to understand why he would behave in this way.

Judge Noble said Nicholas had raped the girl while she was resisting and screaming.

"Truly, it is a woman's worst nightmare, this kind of rape," he said.

The judge said Nicholas had been tracked from the scene by a police dog.

The girl was now described as fearful, anxious, angry with herself, and scared about her safety on the streets.

"She will have on-going emotional difficulties as a result of what you did to her, likely for a very long time," said the judge.

He noted that Nicholas had six previous convictions including assault, wilful damage and disorderly behaviour, but none relating to sex offending.

He did not give Nicholas the full reduction of his jail sentence for his guilty pleas because they had not been entered until after the case had been through a depositions hearing.

- NZPA