A RAPIST who throttled and punched his victim in Minden Place car park has been jailed for eight years.

Antonio Joao Fernandes Correia raped a 27-year-old woman in June last year. He had followed her into the car park at 3 am before pushing her over and pinning her down. He repeatedly punched her in the face and throttled her when she tried to scream for help. The victim had feared for her life because she did not know if he would go on to kill her, the Royal Court heard yesterday. Correia bit the woman’s breasts and ‘toyed’ with his victim during the ordeal, Crown Advocate Matthew Jowitt said. Correia (33) had been in the Island for only a short time before carrying out the brutal attack. He will be deported back to Madeira when he has served his jail sentence, the court ruled. Correia had originally denied being in the car park, but he had been caught on CCTV. His semen was found on the woman’s underwear and she had picked him out of a video line-up. He had admitted the rape before attempting to change his plea and deny the charge, but the court had refused to accept a plea of not guilty. Correia showed no remorse and posed a moderate risk of committing future sex attacks, said Advocate Jowitt. Mr Birt was sitting with Jurats Tibbo, Bullen, Clapham, Le Cornu, Newcombe and Liddiard.