A POWERFULLY-BUILT convicted rapist who took a cocktail of drugs before forcing himself on a vulnerable Bradford woman has been labelled a public danger and jailed for six years.

Peter Coates, 49, put Viagra in his victim’s coffee before “jumping on her” in a sustained attack at his home in Belford Close, Holme Wood, Bradford, on March 1.

Coates took Viagra, amphetamine and cannabis before the hour-long attack, stopping only when he ran out of breath, prosecutor Richard Woolfall told Bradford Crown Court yesterday.

In 1987, Coates was locked up for seven years for raping a woman while burgling her home. He and his accomplice kicked and punched her boyfriend when he tried to help her, the court was told.

While serving the jail sentence, Coates carried out a serious sexual assault on his cellmate and was locked up for a further four years.

Mr Woolfall said that offence, in 1988, would nowadays be charged as rape. Coates was also convicted of gross indecency on his male victim.

After his release, he notched up two convictions for assault.

Mr Woolfall said Coates’ latest victim, in her late 30s, was a recovering drug addict he met in a pub.

He told her he was a paranoid schizophrenic and would get just a couple of months in “the nut house” if he committed offences.

Coates began locking the vulnerable woman in his house, following her around and threatening to beat her up.

On the day of the rape, he bought amphetamine with his Disability Living Allowance and he and the woman also took cannabis. He put Viagra in her coffee and had some as well, Mr Woolfall said.

The woman, who had a hospital appointment the following day, told a nurse what Coates had done to her.

The police forced their way into his home and arrested him.

He was remanded in custody and admitted the rape charge at an earlier hearing.

Sophie Drake, Coates’ barrister, said there was a significant length of time between the earlier convictions for sexual offences and the rape this year.

The convictions for assault did not involve Coates’ partners, Miss Drake told the court.

He now had a cell mate in prison and so was not considered to be an ongoing risk in that environment.

Coates had suffered from drug-induced mental illness in the past and he was battling cancer.

He was willing and motivated to attend courses in prison to address his offending and he held down a responsible job in jail.

The judge, Recorder Abdul Iqbal QC, sentenced Coates to a ten-year extended prison term.

He was jailed for six years and will then spend four years on special extended licence.

Labelling Coates “powerfully-built, manipulative and controlling” Recorder Iqbal said it was a sustained attack on a vulnerable woman, who was left distraught.

“You only stopped raping her when you could not carry on any more because you were out of breath,” he said.

Coates had a paranoid character and posed a real and serious danger. His probation officer found him to be a high risk to future partners, cell mates and the public, Recorder Iqbal said.