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Man jailed for raping and sexually assaulting teens

A custody mugshot of Nathan Catherall. He has short dark hair and brown eyes. He is pictured looking slightly off to the side, with a blank expressionImage source, Avon and Somerset Police
Image caption,

Nathan Catherall was sentenced at Bristol Crown Court on Thursday

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A 26-year-old man has been jailed for 11 years after raping and sexually assaulting two teenagers.

Nathan Catherall, from Croydon, met his 18 and 19-year-old victims through a dating app.

The offences took place in 2020 and 2021 in Bristol, police said.

Catherall was also given indefinite notification requirements, meaning he will have to sign in at police stations regularly after his release.

One of the victims - who cannot be named for legal reasons - told Bristol Crown she was "so scared" during the ordeal, as Catherall was sentenced on Thursday.

'I feel numb'

"Sometimes I feel numb thinking about what has happened," she added.

"I managed to push down my feelings for so long so that I didn鈥檛 have to deal with the pain.

鈥淚 like to think of myself as a strong powerful woman but in that moment I lost those traits and I lost me."

She added: 鈥淚 hope I can learn to forgive myself for being so hard on myself after you raped me and I hope I can treat my body better healing from this than I did dealing with it.

"I don鈥檛 want to cry, and I don鈥檛 want to hate myself.

"I want to love my body, and I want to love me.鈥

Kate Brunner KC, prosecuting, said Catherall had a 鈥渨orrying attitude of entitlement鈥 and an 鈥渁bsolute lack of insight鈥 into his offending.

She also praised the victims for their 鈥渆normous strength and courage鈥.

Investigating officer Ellen Rye said: 鈥淣o always means no, and can be demonstrated in various ways.

"It doesn鈥檛 have to be verbal and whichever way a person communicates it, it is valid and should be respected by the other party.

鈥淭his was not respected by Nathan Catherall, who chose to ignore each victim's right to say no - for his own gratification."

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