Murderer jailed for brutal Wellingborough attack on woman he raped

A rapist has been sentenced to life imprisonment – to serve a minimum of 26 years – for a brutal sex attack and attempted murder of a woman in Wellingborough.

Moldovan national Sergiu Boianjiu, previously of Melton Road in the town, had subjected his victim to a 40-minute attack in Great Park Street in the early hours of February 6.

Sentencing the 39-year-old at Northampton Crown Court His Honour Judge David Herbert KC said: “You are an extremely dangerous man. I am sure there’s a further risk of your causing a significant risk to women long into the future.

Speaking of Boianjiu’s victim the judge said: She is affected on a daily basis – panicky and fearful and self conscious in public. Your offending has had and continues to have a lasting effect on her.”

The sentence of life imprisonment for attempted murder will be served concurrently with a 14 years for rape, and 10 years for attempted rape.

Boianjiu had previously been given 14 years in prison in his home country for murdering his girlfriend and disposing of her body in a drainage ditch in 2002 in Chisinau.

Senior Investigating Officer, Detective Chief Inspector Liz Wilcox, from Northamptonshire Police, said: “I welcome the lengthy sentence handed out to Sergiu Boianjiu today as it means that he is no longer able to harm anyone else.”

On August 26, a jury at Northampton Crown Court had found Boianjiu guilty of attempted murder, one count of rape and one count of attempted rape.

They had heard that during the attack Boianjiu beat his victim unconscious and dragged her into an alleyway where he raped her. He then stamped on her at least 11 times and, after trying unsuccessfully to put her in a wheelie bin, he left her for dead where she was later found by a member of the public.

The woman was taken to hospital in a critical condition with severe head injuries and a dangerously low body temperature.

Thankfully she has since gone on to be discharged from hospital and return home where she continues with her recovery.

A victim impact statement was read to the court by prosecutor Mr Gordon Aspden KC in it she said: “I want to be a happy again. I’m still processing what happened. I felt that I was so consumed by the incident that I couldn’t stop thinking about it.”

The court heard that she had difficulty sleeping and had only found out the details of her attack during the case as she had no recollection of the horrific event.

Mitigating Mr John Lloyd-Jones KC said that the defendant had never denied’ being the offender and that Boianjiu had been ‘in drink’ when the offences took place.

Boianjiu was identified as a suspect from CCTV evidence, tracing his movements back to a local nightclub. Earlier that evening, Boianjiu had been thrown out of the club after groping women and pestering them for sex. He remained outside the premises for more than an hour, continuing to pester young women. As the victim left the club at closing time Boianjiu lay in wait for her and, once she was alone, attacked her.

Det Ch Insp Wilcox said: “This case has been very traumatic for the young woman involved and I hope today’s sentencing provides her with some closure. She has shown exceptional courage throughout our investigation and I hope that, with the help of her great support network, she will be able to continue to move forward.

She added: “Sergiu Boianjiu presents an extraordinary danger to women. In the CCTV footage from the nightclub before the attack we can see him sexually assaulting a number of them through inappropriate touching before he went on that night to commit rape and attempted murder.

“Though his behaviour in the nightclub may be considered ‘low-level’ by some, it demonstrates a mindset that needs to be challenged and everyone should be clear that this is not only unacceptable but criminal conduct.

“Finally, I hope the result today demonstrates the continued commitment of Northamptonshire Police in tackling violence against women and girls and ensuring the offenders are sent to prison.”