Romanian immigrant raped and battered a woman THREE MONTHS after arriving in the UK

A Romanian immigrant raped and battered a woman just THREE MONTHS after arriving in the UK following his release from prison for an identical attack in his own country.

George-Josif Blaj, 20, walked into Britain unchecked despite being convicted of raping a woman in Romania.

Within three months of moving to Northampton, he subjected a woman in her 20s to a harrowing sex attack in her own home on February 1 this year.

A court heard the victim found Blaj standing over her bed clutching a garden spade after he had broken in through a downstairs window at 7am.

After throttling her until she was unconscious, Blaj waited for the woman to wake up before attacking her with the spade and then raping her.

He only stopped the “gratuitous and completely unnecessary” attack when police arrived at her home after her worried housemates dialled 999.

Blaj was arrested nearby and pleaded guilty to assault, burglary and rape – as well as asking for a burglary at a mosque in Northampton to be taken into consideration.

He was given an extended sentence of 15 years – comprising of 11 years in custody and four years on licence – at Northampton Crown Court on August 22.

Caging Blaj – who will be deported after he has served his sentence – Judge Rupert Mayo said: “She was an ordinary young woman who went to bed and woke up to a nightmare.

“This has left the victim with permanent psychological scarring.

“What makes this case more disturbing is your young age and your previous convictions for rape and burglary in Romania.

“I am told you have no memory of the events and that you consumed illegal drugs and alcohol before you entered the house.”

The court heard the victim was so traumatised she had since left the country to start a new life abroad.

It also emerged that Blaj had been previously convicted of rape in his native Romania when he was aged 16.

And speaking after the case, Michael Ellis, MP for Northampton North, blasted authorities for letting the rapist into Britain so easily.

He said: “This is another appalling example of a person who has been permitted to enter the UK despite the fact that his presence was against the public’s interest.

“The question needs to be asked why the Romanian authorities did not inform the UK that this person should not be permitted entry.”

A Home Office spokesperson said people travelling to the UK were checked against a range of watch-lists but said the onus for flagging someone’s criminal history lay with the authorities in their home country.

They added: “Where we receive information that foreign nationals present a genuine threat to society, we are able to take action to prevent their entry to the UK.”

* In April this year, Lithuanian immigrant Gintas Burinskas, 36, was jailed for raping a woman just one month after arriving in the UK. He raped and attacked the 32-year-old victim in Northampton on Boxing Day last year, only five months after he finished a 10-year sentence in his home country for rape.