Wellingborough man jailed for two years for rape

A Wellingborough man who raped a teenage girl has been jailed by a Crown Court judge.

Drew Lincoln, who was 17 at the time of the incident in early 2018 and is now 21, pleaded guilty to a single count of rape when he appeared at Northampton Crown Court on Thursday (September 23).

Prosecuting, Claire Howell, said the girl had been extremely frightened during the incident. She later told a member of staff at her school what had happened and was urged to go to police.

Lincoln, of Henshaw Road, Wellingborough, was arrested and interviewed in May 2018. He gave no comment to the questions he was asked, but did draw detectives' attention to what he said was the victim's 'mental instability', the court was told.

Asking the judge not to jail his client, barrister Steven Talbot-Hadley said that Lincoln was under 18 when the crime took place and had pleaded guilty, albeit at a pre-trial hearing.

He said that his client had ADHD and had had difficulties in his personal life. He had no previous relevant convictions.

"A young person who finds themselves in custody mixes with a great deal of people who are much worse and that's why I'd urge the court to consider suspending the sentence," he said.

Recorder Christopher Donnellan, when sentencing, referred to the impact the attack had had on the victim.

"If I can quote from her victim personal statement, she says: "He decided to use me"."

The judge said he took into account the defendant's ADHD, his lack of previous convictions, his age at the time of the offence, his guilty plea and his low level of maturity, and sentenced Lincoln to two years in jail. He will be required to spend half of that sentence behind bars before being released on licence.

Lincoln will be subject to notification requirements of the sex offenders' register for ten years.