A MENTAL health patient who raped a woman he met on an internet chat site has been jailed.

A MENTAL health patient who raped a woman he met on an internet chat site has been jailed.

Andrew Cole chatted to his victim on-line and via text messages for around a year before he went to her home and subjected her to a terrifying attack, Ipswich Crown Court heard.

The woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said she had no idea he was a Bipolar manic depressive and a hyper maniac.

The court heard that 31-year-old Cole, from Ballantyne Drive, Colchester and his victim, a single mother from Lowestoft, shared sexually explicit messages but had not met face to face until February 16 this year.

She then invited him to her home and soon after he arrived at about 4.30am the pair had consensual intercourse.

Judge Neil McKittrick said: “Maybe both she and you expected your visit would lead quickly to sexual intimacies between you and these intimacies soon led to consensual conventional sexual intercourse.”

He added that during Cole's visit his behaviour was “abnormal” and at one point Cole tipped a bag of medication out in front of his victim.

The court heard that there came a time during the sexual activity when Cole wanted anal intercourse and his victim had made it quite clear she did not. She was then subjected to the brutal rape which left her “bruised all over”.

Cole, who had drunk alcohol and had not taken his medication, poured a hot drink over her and later urinated and defecated around her home.

His victim said that the 16 hour ordeal had turned her world upside down and the painful flashbacks and permanent scars had left her life in tatters.

Cole pleaded guilty to causing criminal damage and was found guilty of rape and common assault.

Jacqueline Carey, mitigating, said her client had not planned the attack and Cole, who had been sectioned on four occasions, had suffered a decline in his illness which led to his offending.

Judge McKittrick said: “It is a highly unusual set of circumstances.”

He said Cole's victim was a vulnerable, lonely single mother and Cole had a mental illness for which he had not taken medication and the alcohol may have uninhibited him.

Cole was jailed for four years in total and told the 297 days he had served on remand in custody would be included in that sentence.

A Sexual Offences Prevention Order was made to prevent Cole contacting his victim or going to Lowestoft and he was banned from making contact with any women through chat sites or dating agencies or from encouraging women to contact him by placing advertisements of any kind.