A man who pulled a young woman into woods in Wrexham and raped her has been jailed for 17 years.
Gift Oladele, 24, from Manchester, carried out the attack in September last year after befriending the 18-year-old victim as she made her way home on a night out.
He was found guilty of rape and sexual assault following a trial at Mold Crown Court in March.
Oladele was previously jailed in 2022 for a sexually-motivated attack in Manchester.
During the sentencing hearing in Caernarfon, it emerged Oladele was already on bail following another allegation of rape in Manchester in November 2024.
The court was told how Oladele approached his victim while she was with friends outside a take-away restaurant in Wrexham city centre, and at first appeared “friendly and flirtatious”.
The woman was described as “completely sober” and in full command of her senses.
Prosecutor James Coutts said Oladele told the young woman he was walking home the same way has her, and accompanied her.
But as they passed an isolated area, he grabbed her by the mouth and forced her into woods, where he carried out a violent rape.
“She described being terrified,” said the prosecutor.
“She did what she thought she needed to do to get through the attack,” Coutts told the court.
Oladele left her “isolated, vulnerable and alone” at the scene.
The court heard Oladele told her he would “find her and harm her” if she reported the rape, and threatened to take photographs and post them online.
But she immediately told her parents when she arrived home, and the police were called.
Oladele was arrested the next day at his cousin’s home in Wrexham.
The court was told he had attempted to hide a mobile phone from officers, which had revealed searches for sexual attacks.
The prosecution alleged Oladele had “a fascination in forced sexual abuse and rape”.
“He was acting out a fantasy in these videos.”
‘I feel unsafe’
The 18-year-old victim told the court she is awoken by nightmares every night that Oladele has tracked her down: “I’m petrified,” she said, as she read out her victim impact statement.
She described how she had had to take a course of medication to prevent HIV infection, and had suffered long-term damage mentally and emotionally as a result of the attack.
“I feel ashamed, and somehow damaged, since what he did to me.
“The emotional impact has been very significant.
“I can’t go anywhere on my own anymore.
“I feel unsafe.”
Judge Simon Mills told her: “You showed exceptional courage during the incident and afterwards.”
Sentencing Oladele, the judge described the attacker’s actions as “truly depraved”.
“You subjected her to a terrible violation,” he said.
“You are a dangerous offender.”
He said the rapist posed an exceptionally high risk of harm to young women, adding Oladele had shown “absolutely no remorse whatsoever”.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c5ye594p0z0o
A migrant who had dodged deportation for a previous crime against a woman when a tribunal said it would breach his human rights, then went on to rape a teenager, has been jailed. Gift Oladele, 24, an Italian-born Nigerian national, pulled a woman aged 19 into woodland. Following the attack he told her: “This will teach you a lesson not to trust strangers.”
Authorities were already aware of Oladele as he was jailed for two years in 2022 for the false imprisonment of a woman in Manchester. The judge in that case, Judge Conrad KC, told him: “There is ample material here for me to find that you are a dangerous offender.
“I regard you, having seen you give evidence, as a young man who is clever, devious and
At the sentencing hearing today, April 30, in Caernarfon Crown Court, Judge Simon Mills gave him an extended sentence of 25 years with 17 in custody and the rest on licence.
He also imposed a Sexual Harm Prevention Order indefinitely, and an indefinite restraining order from contacting the victim.
The judge said of the attack: “You threatened to record the events and put it on the internet and threatened to find and harm her if she reported your depraved behaviour to the police. She had to take anti HIV medication after.
“At one point you were holding a rock. She thought you were going to hit her with it. I can find no innocent reason to pick that up. She was showing courage at that point. She was in survival mode trying to keep you as calm as possible after that terrible violation as she feared further violence.
“You are one of the clearest examples of having absolutely no remorse whatsoever.”
He said he had drawn back form life imprisonment because at the age of 24 Oladele could still rehabilitate himself.
Earlier in the hearing, James Coutts, prosecuting, said the victim was walking the same way as the defendant and he started flirting with her.
He launched his attack when they reached a wooded area on a pathway away from the road, using physical force and threats. Mr Coutts said the victim felt “terrified” during the assault.
He threatened her to try to stop her from reporting the crime, but the victim reported what had happened to her parents. Oladele was later arrested. His mobile phone showed a long standing interest in forced sexual abuse. He had tried to hide the phone from police.
His victim said in a statement, “I was left with bruising” and that she had to have medication.
She said it felt like a “living hell”, that she couldn’t eat properly and was petrified he would be cleared of the assault on her.
The court heard how she had panic attacks at work and had to have days off due to anxiety. She had suicidal thoughts and felt depressed and anxious..
She also described feeling “vulnerable and scared” and relied on other people to help her get about.
Flashbacks and nightmares affected her, she said, and it had resulted in an effect on her relationship with her boyfriend. She said that at the time of the attack she felt “weak and helpless” and thought she was going to be killed.
She had shown “exceptional courage”, said the judge.
The Home Office had ordered Oladele’s deportation in January, 2023, following his conviction, but he successfully appealed the decision through the Asylum and Immigration Tribunal.
Removing him would violate Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which protects the right to respect for private and family life, it was ruled.
Oladele claimed he had never visited Nigeria and would face “insurmountable obstacles” if he was ordered to go there.
The severity of the first attack was acknowledged by the judge in that case but he determined that Oladele’s rehabilitation outweighed the public interest in him being sent to Nigeria.
“The offence that the Appellant committed was very serious and I find that there is a strong public interest in deporting and excluding foreign criminals, especially one who has committed a frightening and public assault,” said Judge Simpson.
“However I have found that the factors on the Appellant’s side of the balance sheet, in particular the fact that he would be a complete outsider should he relocate to Nigeria with attendant risks, that he has a developed private life having grown up in the United Kingdom and that he has engaged positively in a process of rehabilitation and that this has had the impact of reducing the risk of reoffending, are just sufficiently compelling to outweigh those on the Respondent’s side.”
The tribunal ruled “continuation of the deportation order is not proportionate under Article 8 ECHR” and that refusing Oladele’s human rights claim would result in a “breach of the Appellant’s protected rights.”
Oladele therefore remained in the UK and went on to commit the rape in Wrexham.
Defending Oladele in today’s sentencing, Phil Tully said anything he said was not to cause the victim and family any further distress. He said Oladele accepted the only sentence was one of immediate custody.
But he expressed concern that the pre-sentence report had mistakes over what the defendant had been found guilty of
There was no premeditation, said Mr Tully, who added that Oladele did not have a history of committing sexual offences.
He felt an extended sentence was more appropriate than a life sentence.
A Home Office spokesperson said following the rape conviction: “This is an absolutely horrific case, and our thoughts are with the victim of this heinous criminal. Foreign nationals who commit crimes should be in zero doubt that we will aim to remove them from the UK at the earliest opportunity.
“The Home Secretary has announced sweeping reforms to tackle illegal migration, which will make the UK less attractive for illegal migrants and make it easier to remove them.”
Following today’s sentencing, Olivia Samuel of the Crown Prosecution Service said: “Gift Oladele subjected the victim to a horrific sexual attack.
https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/migrant-spared-deportation-over-human-33864969