Rapists 'dehumanised' teenage girl in joint attack

Two rapists who "dehumanised" a teenage girl when they teamed up to attack her have been jailed.

Taylor Dove, 22, and Vieri Chapman, 25, subjected the young woman to a 30-minute long ordeal which they had planned and Dove bragged about afterwards, Newcastle Crown Court heard.

Both denied wrongdoing but were found guilty by jurors of offences including rape, with Dove, from Sunderland, jailed for 12 years and Chapman, from Newcastle, for 10 years.

Dove was also found found guilty of raping another teenager when he was 17, who said he had "destroyed" her life.

Neither Chapman, from Gosforth, nor Dove, from Grangetown, had any "regard" for their victim, who was "violated in the most vile way by two men at the same time," Judge Julie Clemitson said.

In a statement read to the court, the young woman said she was determined not to be made a victim by the pair but their actions had had a big impact.

"I didn't want it to affect anything in my life but it ended up affecting everything in my life," she said.

She said the rapists "dehumanised" her and "gave no regard" to how she felt.

"I don't think they realise the severity of what they did and how much it has affected me," she said.

Dove, from Grangetown, was on bail for the rape he carried out as a 17-year-old when he attacked the woman with Chapman, who was also known by the name Jevonni Copley, the court heard.

In a statement, Dove's first victim said: "Taylor Dove has destroyed my life.

"I only found the strength to report what he had done due to the fear he would do the same thing to someone else."

She said she had become a "shell" of the "happy and confident" person she had been, while Dove had not shown any remorse.

"I don't believe he thinks what he has done is wrong," the victim said.

Judge Clemitson said Dove "felt entitled" to have sex while Chapman had a "troubling attitude towards consent".

She said alcohol played a part in their joint attack but both rapists put their own desires ahead of the young woman's feelings.

"Had you both bothered to look at her rather than playing tag, you would have noticed she was crying," the judge told them.

It was "truly an ordeal" for the young woman who was left "bleeding and distraught", the judge said.

She said neither had shown any remorse or insight and Dove was "bragging of [his] exploits" to friends afterwards.

Each rapist will have to sign the sex offenders register for life.

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