A 34-YEAR-OLD Stroud man who raped a woman after drinking heavily has been jailed for four years.

Car rental company worker Aaron Goodfield, of Devereaux Crescent, Ebley, was told by a judge at Gloucester Crown Court on Monday April 8 that he should spend his time in prison reflecting on the pain and distress he had caused his victim.

Goodfield had denied two charges of raping the woman between June and August 2020.

A jury cleared him of one charge but convicted him of the other after a week-long trial last month.

Today he returned to court to be sentenced by Judge Ian Lawrie KC, who told him: "You are still in denial regarding your actions. In prison you will have time to reflect on the harm you caused her.

"An aggravating feature is the amount of alcohol you had consumed which, I have little doubt, led to the commission of this offence.

"You are a man of previous good character who was in full time employment and this will be your first taste of custody which will be deeply unpleasant for you."

Jailing Goodfield for four years the judge told him he will have to serve two-thirds of the sentence before he is eligible for parole.

He placed Goodfield on the sex offender register for life and ordered him to pay a victim impact surcharge of £190.

At the start of today's hearing prosecutor David Scutt read a victim impact statement from the woman in which she told Goodfield: "You have shown no remorse or understanding for how you have hurt me.

"At court the questions I was asked were embarrassing and I didn't feel comfortable with some of them.

"You could have saved me from all that by taking responsibility for what you did.

"I am relieved that it is now over and I have been believed. I hope you get some support and change for the better. "

Kevin Seal, defending, told the court that a probation officer's assessment of Goodfield was that he poses a low risk of further offending.

"My client does not seek to go behind the verdict of the jury, which he has to accept, but it is still early for him to take stock of his life and actions and consider the consequences," he added.