A head chef raped a vulnerable woman on Christmas Day – just hours after PROPOSING to his girlfriend.
Adam Hodge, 34, went on a drinking binge after popping the question to the mother of his eight-week-old baby on December 25th.
He was later staggering drunk through the streets when he exposed himself to two women and made sexual remarks.
As one woman went for help the father-of-three led his victim – who has learning difficulties – to a loading area behind a supermarket where he raped her.
Police found Hodge nearby clearly drunk and “making no sense”, where he claimed to barely remember anything about the incident.
Hodge, of Kingswood, Bristol, was jailed for five years and two months after he pleaded guilty to rape.
Sentencing him at Bristol Crown Court, Judge Neil Ford QC said: “It is extraordinary that a man like you should find yourself in this position.
“I can only assume that your behaviour was the result of consuming an amount of drink which you hadn’t consumed before.
“Your behaviour that night was wholly out of character.”
The court heard how Hodge targeted the two women as they were walking along a street near his home in Kingswood, Bristol.
He exposed himself and made “sexualised remarks” to them.
Ian Fenny, prosecuting, told the court: “They attempted to discourage him. One of the women left to summon help and the defendant took hold of the other’s hand.
“He kissed her in a sexualised fashion and she resisted. He took her by the hand and he led her to the back of the loading bay at the Iceland store.
“She resisted as much as she felt able to do so. She was completely void of the self-confidence and assurance of others of her age.”
The court heard that although she repeatedly told him “no”, Hodge forcefully attacked and injured her before walking off.
Police found him nearby, incoherent and with his trouser belt undone, Mr Fenny added.
DNA evidence linked him to attack on the woman and he was later identified in a video identity parade.
Hodge initially gave police a prepared statement in which he claimed the woman consented to sex.
He told officers he got so drunk he barely remembered anything about the incident – where he also caused #4,000 damage by vandalising two parked cars.
Robert Duval, defending, said his “deeply ashamed” client was a head chef managing 23 people working at a hotel in Bristol for the Marriott group.
He had two children from a previous relationship and an eight- week-old baby with his current partner, to whom he got engaged on Christmas Day morning.
He said Hodge was so inebriated by that night that he had scant recollection of events which proved so “damaging” to the victim.
Mr Duval said: “It has been a terrible time for him. It has been devastating for him.
“He was not there for his baby’s birth and he will not be there for the very first years. He is dedicated to his family and to his children and is praised for a number of qualities, for his kindness and his modesty.”
