'Monster' farmer jailed for historic rape

A rapist who abused two women more than 40 years ago has been described as a "monster" and "cowardly creature".

Raymond Harrison, 73, was working as a farmer in Keswick, Cumbria, when he became to know his two victims, who he groomed with sweets and cigarettes.

He was handed a 20-year prison sentence in 2021 but his conviction was overturned by the Court of Appeal.

He was convicted of 13 sexual assault charges, including raping a girl, at a retrial at Carlisle Crown Court and was jailed for 14 years and 61 days.

Jurors heard how in around the turn of the 1980s, Harrison touched the girls sexually when he was alone with them.

The prosecution described how he first raped one girl in a garage after pinning her to a stone wall and continued the abuse for many months. He continued to rape her multiple times during the course of many months.

He told her it was their secret and she should not tell anyone.

The court also heard Harrison indecently assaulted a second girl by kissing and putting his tongue in her mouth and by touching her intimately under her clothing.

Neither girl felt they could initially complain but eventually made statements to the police in 2017.

Statements from the two victims were read by prosecutor Kim Whittlestone.

The rape victim said Harrison "robbed" her of her childhood and self-esteem.

"He is a dangerous man and a manipulative, narcissistic, controlling, delusional and cowardly creature," she said.

"The deep-rooted anger, frustration and despair is incalculable. He has destroyed my life and any sense of normality."

The woman Harrison indecently assaulted, said she would have once listened to a "heartfelt apology" and for him to help for himself.

"I now never wish to hear your name again and hope you spend the rest of your days in total misery," she said.

After the 2021 conviction was overturned the following year, Harrison was the subject of a retrial at Carlisle Crown Court in 2023.

He was found guilty of three indecent assault charges and acquitted of 13 other allegations.

The jury could not reach a verdict on 10 additional charges, which then became the subject of the trial held this month.

He denied four charges of rape of a girl, two charges of indecency with the same child - who the 2023 jury concluded he indecently assaulted - and four indecent assault charges relating to the second girl.

The jury unanimously found him guilty of all charges.

Judge Nicholas Barker told Harrison: "The courts now understand the deeply corrosive effect that sexual abuse has on the development of children and how that stain is left long into their adult lives and will never be washed away.

"By contract, Raymond Harrison, you have yourself been able to live a life of undeserved respectability.

"You should for the last 40 years or so not have been known as a good, honest farmer, but the sex offender you really are."

Harrison must serve two-thirds of the jail term before being eligible for release and must sign the sex offenders register for life.

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