Anthony Curran guilty of raping two women

Jun 23 2009 by Hilary Clixby, The Journal

During the trial, jurors heard from both victims via a video link.

The first woman described how she had gone upstairs to bed leaving her partner sleeping downstairs on the sofa.

She said she became aware in the early hours of the morning that someone was in bed behind her and assuming it was her partner, drifted back into sleep.

But she told how she became alarmed when she later felt cold clothing pressing into her body.

The woman said the intruder had gone on to rape her after pushing her onto her front, forcing her face into the pillow so she could hardly breathe.

She said the man put his hand over her mouth but recoiled when she bit it, giving her a chance to scream to her boyfriend.

The second victim told how she feared for her life when Curran suddenly grabbed hold of her on nettle-strewn wasteland off Hillheads Road, Whitley Bay.

She said: “I thought I was going to die. I was so shocked because he had seemed a nice sort of person. I thought he was going to kill me.”