A man from Barry who locked a woman inside an address before raping her has been jailed.
Kenneth Crane, 43, left his victim feeling suicidal following months of abuse between September, 2024, and April, 2025.
On one occasion he locked his victim inside an address and demanded seeing messages on her phone. The next morning, he forced her to perform oral sex on him and raped her.
On another occasion, he grabbed a kitchen knife and held it to his victim’s face, threatening to harm her if she did not give him her phone. He threw a cup of coffee over her and forced her to clean it up, before forcing her against a door frame and strangling her.
The victim told police how he would threaten to share private images of the victim on social media.
After months of abuse, the victim contacted South Wales Police and Crane was arrested – he was charged with a catalogue of offences, including two counts of rape, two counts of false imprisonment, threatening with an offensive weapon, intentional strangulation, and sharing a photograph of a person in intimate state intending to cause alarm distress or humiliation.
He pleaded guilty to sharing the photograph but not guilty to all other offences.
On October 24, he was found guilty on all charges following a trial at Cardiff Crown Court, and on November 26, he was jailed for a total of 15 years but was given an extended sentence of 18 years due to the nature of his crimes.
In a statement read out at court, his victim said:‘Every day I find myself crying and I am sick of it. I don’t recognise the version of myself that I am now and I find it so frustrating that he has been able to have such an impact on my life. There is part of me that doesn’t want him to know the negative impact he has had – he will feel smug about it. But at the same time why shouldn’t I have my say. By me not saying how it has impacted me it allows his behaviour to continue.’
Detective Constable Sophia Jackson-johns, said: “Kenneth Crane is a depraved individual and his treatment of his victim in this case is sickening. He will spend this Christmas and many more behind bars which is where he belongs. His victim, on the other hand, is now free from abuse and I truly hope she can move on from what has been a horrific experience. We will ensure she gets all the support she needs to do that.”
