A MAN has been handed a nine year prison sentence for a series of sexual assaults on a woman.

Darren Belton, 46, was found guilty of a string of sexual and violent offences including four counts of rape and two counts of assault by penetration on a woman.

The offences took place in Basildon between June 2016 and February 2017.

Belton initially denied the charges and stood trial at Basildon Crown Court where a jury found him guilty on all counts after a six-day trial.

Prosecutor Stephen Rose said: “This is a pattern of offending that escalates to the series of rapes and sexual assaults.

“The victim was particularly vulnerable because of her personal circumstances.”

Mitigating barrister Raana Shiekh told the court that Belton had suffered mental health difficulties after the death of his father.

Sentencing Belton, Judge Ian Graham said: “You have been convicted by a jury on eight counts after a trial in which you denied every allegation made against you.

“It’s clear from looking at these counts that you acted in a sexually abusive way including raping the victim on a regular basis. There was serious psychological and physical harm. The victim was vulnerable and you knew that. This was a sustained course of conduct.”

Judge Graham told the court he believed Belton to be dangerous enough to invoke an extended licence on his sentence.

The court must be satisfied that there is a significant risk to members of the public of serious harm if he were to commit further offences.

In reasoning this, Judge Graham described some aspects of the offences as “disturbing, threatening and violent”.

He added that Belton has a long history of offences mostly connected with drugs and dishonesty but also including more recent convictions for assault, harassment and breaching restraining orders.

He also raised concerns with Belton’s attitude towards his offences during the trial.

Belton, of Roslin Close, Chelmsford, was sentenced to nine years with an extended licence of four years.

He will be on the sex offenders register for life and made subject to a 10-year restraining order which bans him from Basildon, Pitsea and Laindon.