Knife-wielding rapist jailed for 23 years after burnley attack

A late-night visit spiralled into hours of violence as a Sheffield man carried out a brutal knife-point sexual assault, leaving police to piece together CCTV, forensics and digital evidence.

A man who carried out a sustained knife-point sexual attack on a woman in Burnley has been sentenced to a total of 23 years’ imprisonment following his conviction for rape and related offences, a court has heard.

Bo Yang, 41, was sentenced at Preston Crown Court on Friday after a jury found him guilty of two counts of rape, sexual assault, assault occasioning actual bodily harm, robbery and possession of a bladed article following a trial in December.

The court heard that Yang attended the woman’s address shortly after 11pm on April 15 last year and engaged her in conversation before a dispute arose over money. Prosecutors said Yang then produced a knife from his pocket, forced the woman towards a bed and used the weapon to tear her clothing.

Read more: Glasgow predator jailed for raping student in city centre

Yang was said to have removed a metal bar from a bag he was carrying and used it to repeatedly strike the woman before raping and sexually assaulting her. The prosecution told the court that he later produced rope and tape from the same bag, tied the woman up and placed tape around her head before using the knife to cut her.

After the attack, Yang took items from the woman’s purse, including bank cards and cash, and attempted to transfer money into his own bank account by using facial recognition on her mobile phone, the jury was told.

The woman was able to escape the property when Yang turned his back and ran to neighbours, who contacted police at 3.46am. The court heard the incident lasted several hours.

In a statement read to the court, the woman described ongoing sleep disturbance and said her physical and mental health had been affected by the incident.

Read more: Predator convicted of woodland rape after deportation halted

Yang was identified through CCTV and forensic examination, including fingerprints recovered from tape found at the scene. Jurors also heard that officers recovered digital evidence from WeChat, a Chinese-language messaging platform, which formed part of the prosecution case.