A TOTTENHAM man who attacked and raped a young woman as she walked home from a Somerset nightclub has been locked up for six years.

Romanian national Ioan Bucatariu, 23, of Alnwick House, Park Lane, was sentenced for two counts of rape at Taunton Crown Court last Thursday.

Bucatariu, who served three-and-a-half years for robbery in 2004, earlier pleaded guilty to both charges.

At 1.30am on July 5, the 22-year-old was sat on a wall in Summerland Avenue, Minehead, chatting on her mobile and smoking when Bucatariu approached.

He sat beside her and when asked to move, he put his arm around her neck so tightly she blacked out, said Caroline Bolt, prosecuting.

When she came to, Bucatariu picked her up, stole her phone and told her to stop crying, telling her he would spare her life if she did not scream.

Meanwhile the woman's friend heard the commotion over the phone and contacted police.

Bucatariu led her into a darkened area of a car park and forced her to perform a sex act on him.

He then told her to lie down and raped her before trying to get her to repeat the sex act.

Pleading with him to stop, Bucatariu told her to dress and keep quiet before leaving.

Bucatariu was traced to London through her phone signal, description of him and CCTV footage.

The mobile was discovered during a raid on his home.

Bucatariu told police he was in a Minehead nightclub that evening, but denied having sex with anyone.

When told his DNA found on his victim had a match probability of one in a billion, he refused to comment.

Noel Sweeney, defending, said Bucatariu, who had an unhappy childhood, came to England to forge a new future but ended up destroying the woman's life, and his own.

He added: "He's riddled with remorse and exhibits manifested shame."

Sentencing, Judge Stephen O'Malley said: "You raped her and she clearly suffered spectacular damage to her confidence, attitudes towards other people and felt the need to move."

He gave credit for his early guilty pleas and accepted his deep shame and remorse.

Bucatariu wept and hung his head as he was given concurrent sentences on each count and told he would be recommended for deportation after serving his sentence.

Bucatariu was forced to hear how his victim turned from a "happy-go-lucky 22-year-old" to feeling "paranoid" and "angry" before he was led to the cells.

In a written statement, the woman said she wanted the court and her attacker to know how the rape had affected her.

The barmaid said she always felt confident walking home alone after a night out because she considered Minehead "a safe family town".

But she described how her life "completely changed" in the wake of the attack.

"This has completely knocked my confidence and I have become paranoid of people and being out," she said.

"Since this happened I have only really been out once and then I left worried for my safety and paranoid about other people - particularly males.

"I have had to move from my flat I was living in at the time as I couldn't face living in that same area. I find I'm almost a prisoner myself, not wanting to leave my house or workplace."

She added: "I can't find words to describe him, but I want him to go to prison for as long as possible and have him deported from this country."