Brave sales assistant who was raped by a 16-YEAR-OLD burglar slams the UK justice system as his name stays secret - despite him being jailed for five years

Becky Chaplin, 21, was raped by a boy, 16, who broke into her first floor flat
Waiving her right to anonymity, the 21-year-old slammed the justice system
She said: 'I don't think he should be sentenced as a child for a man's crime'
He was jailed for five-and-a-half years but judge ruled he could not be identified

Published: 13:19 GMT, 27 November 2017 | Updated: 21:49 GMT, 27 November 2017

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Sales assistant Becky Chaplin was raped by a boy who broke into her first floor flat who choked her with a metal wire

A 21-year-old woman who woke up to find a 16-year-old burglar raping her with a metal wire around her neck has slammed the justice system after he was allowed to keep his identity secret.

Sales assistant Becky Chaplin was raped by a boy who broke into her first floor flat who choked her with a metal wire.

He was sentenced to five-and-a-half years in jail in September but a judge ruled that, due to his age, he could not be identified.

Waiving her right to anonymity Miss Chaplin said: 'I don't think he should be sentenced as a child for a man's crime.'

Miss Chaplin, from Ashington, Northumberland, had been at a pub quiz with friends earlier in the evening before returning to her flat.

The hooded intruder broke into her flat and she woke up to find she was being choked with a metal wire.

The 21-year-old, who lost consciousness twice and was hit during the horrifying ordeal, was then dragged onto the floor and raped.

She kicked the teenager twice in the face to get him off her before frantically calling the police.

The attacker, who had gone into her kitchen, came back into her bedroom to retrieve the wire cable which he had used to strangle her with, while she cowered in fear.

He then escaped out the kitchen window but was caught after leaving his footprints and fingerprints at the scene.

Miss Chaplin, who was left bruised and battered and with marks around her neck, said she feels let down by the justice system

He was sentenced to five-and-a-half years at Newcastle Crown Court but a judge ruled that he could not be identified by the media.

Miss Chaplin, who was left bruised and battered and with marks around her neck, said she feels let down by the justice system.

The sales assistant said: 'I think he should be named and shamed. I don't feel that is any kind of justice to me.

'I don't think he should be sentenced as a child for a man's crime.

'He needs to take responsibly for it. It is not right for the court to be protecting a rapist.

'He gets to be protected while I have to deal with what has happened to me for the rest of my life.'

The hooded intruder broke into Miss Chaplin's flat and she woke up to find she was being choked with a metal wire

Miss Chaplin stayed on the phone to a call operator for more than 30 minutes until police arrived to help her.

She said: 'I heard rattling around in the kitchen and I grabbed my phone to ring 999.

'When I was on the phone he walked back into the room to pick up the wire he had strangled me with.

'I was frantically telling the call operator that he was coming into the room.

'I just couldn't look at his face...I was too scared. He picked it up and walked back out.

'I thought he was going to get a knife and kill me. I thought I was going to die, there and then, in my bed.'

The 21-year-old was stunned when she was told by police the next day they had arrested and charged a 16-year-old boy with rape.

She said: 'I felt embarrassed because compared to me he was a child.

'I had been raped by a child. I couldn't believe someone that age could do something like that.

'It took me a while to come to terms with the fact he was 16.'

He pleaded guilty to rape and the court heard how he had been lurking outside her home a few nights before the attack.

He left footprints and fingerprints in her home and his saliva was found on her clothing.

Miss Chaplin sat in the public gallery in court as he was sentenced to five-and-a-half years in prison with a two year extended licence period and lifelong sex offender registration and restraining order.