Birmingham schoolgirl, 14, woke to being raped by stranger with hand over her mouth
A Birmingham schoolgirl woke up to the terror of being raped by a stranger.The 14-year-old had passed out from alcohol and cannabis in a property in Aston after being lured there from the city centre by Rhyce Longstaff and his friend.He went looking for her in a bedroom where she had lost consciousness and repeatedly sexually attacked her.READ MORE: Secret to getting the best of BirminghamLive's storiesWhen she woke in terror the first time Longstaff put his hand over her mouth to muffle the sound of her crying.The girl was so traumatised by flashbacks she had since tried to take her own life, a court heard.Longstaff was found guilty of three charges of rape after a trial.The 31-year-old, from Haydock Close, Hodge Hill, has previous convictions including robbery, affray and threatening someone with a knife.At Birmingham Crown Court on Friday, March 6 he was branded a 'dangerous' criminal and jailed for 16 years with an extended six-year licence.Even his own lawyer had nothing positive to say about him.Longstaff was with a friend in Birmingham city centre in the early hours of October 11, 2024 when he came across the girl and two of her friends.He quickly invited them back to an address in Sutton Street, Aston.Once there the girl drank alcohol and smoked cannabis, albeit it was not Longstaff who gave it to her. She then passed out in an upstairs bedroom.Judge Andrew Smith KC told him: "You must have either followed her or gone looking for her and found her in a very vulnerable, unconscious state."Her vulnerability was increased by being uncertain as to where she was and being among a number of older male strangers."The terror she must have felt to wake and find you raping her cannot be adequately described."Your reaction to her waking was to put a hand across her mouth to silence any response, including her crying, and to tell her not to tell anyone as she would not be believed."Breaking court news straight to your WhatsAppBirminghamLive readers will get the latest from court through our WhatsApp community.All you have to do is click this link and select 'Join Chat' and you are in.We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don’t like our community, you can check out any time you like by selecting 'exit group'.CLICK HERE TO JOINThe girl passed out again. Longstaff returned to the bedroom and raped her on two further occasions.He then left the house and took her phone with him to prevent her calling for help.It was co-located with his own phone on two occasions in the hours that followed although the victim's device was never recovered.In a statement the girl described how she had lost confidence, self-esteem and no longer recognised herself.She spoke of being too frightened to go out as well as suffering 'terrible nightmares'.The girl described in vivid detail how she tried to end her own life because 'I could see it as the only way out'.After Longstaff was arrested and convicted she said it felt like a weight had been lifted from her shoulders.She said: "I was fine for a bit but then I felt low again because what happened just won't leave my head."But she concluded saying she was determined the attack would not 'ruin my life'.Longstaff attended via video link from HMP Birmingham and was seen to repeatedly hold his head in his hand throughout the hearing.Judge Smith told him: "I identify no mitigation of note in your favour. In particular, you have demonstrated no remorse."Justin Hugheston-Roberts, defending, had nothing positive to say.He simply asked the judge to step back from a possible life sentence and to pass a punishment that was as lenient as possible in line with his public duty.
