A “CALLOUS rapist” has been jailed for ten years for raping a teenage girl after plying her with alcohol and drugs.

Jamie Forbes, 52, attacked the girl in June 2020. 

The widower, of Manor Road, Benfleet, forced himself upon the girl having plied her with alcohol and cannabis, also allegedly offering her cocaine which she refused, the court heard.

Yesterday, he was jailed for ten years at Basildon Crown Court.

Peter Clark, prosecuting, said: “He begun with him making remarks of a sexual nature, asking if she had slept with older men.

“She made it absolutely clear she was not consenting, but he persevered nonetheless, telling her she did want it.”

In police interviews Forbes denied the offence, claiming the victim had instead come onto him.

Forbes, who was married for 30 years before his wife died in late 2018, continues to deny the offence, despite being found guilty by jury earlier this year.

Forbes also “vehemently denies” there was any cocaine present, and a police search of his home following the incident found no evidence of the Class A drug.

In his sentencing remarks, recorder Leslie Cuthbert described Forbes as “a callous rapist”, adding: “You do pose a high risk of committing further offences, that is ones of a sexual nature, not only to the victim, but to other young women.”

“You saw her as an easy target for your own sexual desires,” recorder Cuthbert said. “You boasted about the number of women you had allegedly had sex with before asking the victim about the number of boys they had been with and their ages.

“You decided to take what you wanted, to fulfil your own sexual urges, irrespective of her wishes and despite her continued protestations.”

He added: “Even now, in the pre-sentence report, you refuse to accept what you have done and instead are now suggesting that you’re being convicted is some kind of ‘set-up’.

“You have shown no remorse for your actions, but only for the impact it has had on yourself.”

Forbes was sentenced to ten years’ imprisonment and an extended license period of two years for rape of a woman 16 years of age or over at Basildon Crown Court on yesterday.

Forbes will be required to serve two-thirds of the custodial period in prison before being eligible for parole.