'Truly depraved' rapist who dragged woman into woods jailed for 17 years

A rapist who had a "fascination" for forced sexual abuse has been jailed for 17 years for dragging a young woman into woods and assaulting her.

Gift Oladele, 24, carried out the attack in Wrexham last September after befriending the victim, now 19, on her way home from a night out.

Oladele was found guilty of rape and sexual assault in a Mold Crown Court trial in March.

When he carried out the attack, he was already on bail over another rape allegation in his home city of Manchester in November 2024.

He was also previously jailed in 2022 for a sexually-motivated attack and it has emerged he successfully fought against deportation to Nigeria on human rights grounds and later Home Office appeals.

On Thursday, the court was told how Oladele approached his victim while she was with friends outside a take-away in Wrexham city centre and, at first, appeared "friendly and flirtatious".

James Coutts, prosecuting, said Oladele told the young woman he was walking home the same way as 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 barrister.

"She did what she thought she needed to do to get through the attack."

Oladele threatened he would "find her and harm her" if she reported the rape, and threatened to take photographs and post them online.

He then fled and left his victim "isolated, vulnerable and alone" where he attacked her.

But she got home, she immediately told her parents and the police were called.

Oladele was arrested the next day at his cousin's home in Wrexham.

He had attempted to hide a mobile phone from officers, which had revealed searches for sexual attacks.

Oladele had "a fascination in forced sexual abuse and rape".

"He was acting out a fantasy in these videos."

The victim told the court she is woken 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.

Judge Simon Mills told her: "You showed exceptional courage during the incident and afterwards."

After his first prison sentence, Oladele was due to be deported but successfully appealed the decision.

The judge at the immigration tribunal in 2024 said the matter was "finely balanced", arguing the offence Oladele had committed was "very serious" and that there was "a strong public interest in deporting and excluding foreign criminals, especially one who has committed a frightening and public assault".

But the fact that Oladele would be "a complete outsider should he relocate to Nigeria" and that he had a "developed private life having grown up in the United Kingdom" outweighed the public interest in deporting him.

The judge also said at the time that Oladele "has engaged positively in a process of rehabilitation and that this has had the impact of reducing the risk of reoffending".

The Home Office made two attempts to appeal the decision, both of which were rejected by the court.

Sentencing Oladele, the judge on Thursday described his 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".