Rapist controlled Melbourne woman's life

A homeless man has been jailed after he forced his way into a woman's Melbourne home, raped her and took a key so he could return as he pleased.

A homeless rapist told a woman "you're mine now" after forcing his way into her Melbourne home and taking a key so he could come and go as he pleased.

Rodney Beckett, 58, was jailed for more than a decade for exerting what a judge described as "brutal dominance" over the woman's life.

Beckett shoved the woman through the front door of her house, creeping up behind her as she returned home one night in August 2010.

He told her he was staying the night, beat her, dragged her around the house by her hair and raped her in her own bed.

The next morning he told her "you're mine now" and took a key to the house.

Between September and November 2010, Beckett turned up at the woman's home as he pleased, and threatened to kill her or harm her family if she told police.

She finally went to police in late November and Beckett was arrested.

Victorian County Court Judge Liz Gaynor said the woman's fear of Beckett had consumed her life.

"She had her life brutally taken over for several months during which she clearly lived in abject fear of you," Judge Gaynor told Beckett on Monday.

Judge Gaynor said the woman had since lost her long-term job, was fearful of leaving home and lived in perpetual fear of Beckett's return.

While in custody, Beckett also admitted to raping another woman in 1987, after following her home from a Melbourne pub.

That victim, now in her 70s, said in a victim impact statement she turned to alcohol for solace after the violent rape and has never recovered.

"These women did nothing to deserve the ruination you bought to their lives," Judge Gaynor said.

The judge jailed Beckett for 10 years and two months for a series of charges including rape, false imprisonment and stalking.

Beckett was an alcoholic living in Melbourne's Royal Botanic Gardens at the time he took the woman's house key.

Judge Gaynor said he has spent a total of 16 years in jail throughout his life on convictions including rape and armed robbery.

She said he had battled alcoholism since age 12 and after suffering physical abuse at the hands of his step father.

Beckett, who has been in custody since November 2010, must serve a minimum of eight years in jail.


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