A drug-fuelled rapist who tricked his way into a vulnerable 63-year-old woman’s home and subjected her to a degrading attack has been jailed for five years and four months.

Thomas Ullah, 22, sat hunched in the dock at Bradford Crown Court with his head in his hands as his barrister described the assault as “awful, degrading and distressing”.

Ullah, of Fairhaven Green, Idle, Bradford, pleaded guilty to raping the woman on August 8, a fortnight after his release from a 15-month prison sentence for supplying class A drugs.

Prosecutor Richard Smith said Ullah’s victim, who was not known to him, was preyed on by local youths who used her Bradford home to smoke cannabis. They ate her food, took money and dossed down uninvited.

Mr Smith said Ullah was not among that group but he had friends who were.

The woman lived alone and suffered from depression, the court was told yesterday. She had fallen asleep after watching TV when Ullah knocked on the door at 1.15am.

He had earlier exposed himself in front of CCTV cameras while out in Bradford, Mr Smith said.

Ullah told his victim he was called Joe and tricked his way in by claiming that a man she knew was on his way over.

He told her he had taken cocaine and M-cat and had just come out of prison.

Mr Smith said Ullah dragged the woman into the hall, kicked open her bedroom door and threw her into the room.

He stripped her naked and raped her on the bed, threatening: “Scream bitch and you’re dead.”

Afterwards, the woman was shaking with fear. She told the police she felt like “a piece of scum”.

The woman had bruised arms and legs and Ullah was linked to her by DNA evidence.

His barrister, Jayne Beckett, said he had taken a cocktail of drugs and alcohol. He was “sickened to the core” by what he had done and struggling to come to terms with it.

Judge David Hatton QC said Ullah’s victim was devastated and her life would never be the same.

After the case, Detective Inspector Ian Lawrance, of Operation Topaz, West Yorkshire Police’s rape investigation unit, said: “Ullah took advantage of a vulnerable member of the community in the worst possible way.

“He reached the depth of depravity in his actions and I am extremely pleased to see he will now spend some considerable time behind bars.”

Ullah’s victim, who was in court, said she was “upset and devastated” that the sentence was not longer.