Rapist met teenage victims on dating app and left them ‘terrified’

A rapist who left his two teenage victims “terrified” has been jailed. Nathan Catherall, from Croydon, raped two women in Bristol, aged 18 and 19, whom he had met on a dating app in 2020 and 2021.

Catherall, 26, was found guilty of two counts of rape and one count of assault by penetration at Bristol Crown Court in May and was sentenced at the same court yesterday (June 27). Describing him as having a “worrying attitude towards the law”, Recorder Kate Brunner KC jailed Catherall for 11 years. He was also given indefinite notice requirements, commonly known as the sex offender registry.

His crimes had a significant impact on his victims, who said they were left terrified by their ordeal. Ms Brunner praised the victims, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, for their “tremendous strength and courage”.

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Speaking in court, one woman said: “Sometimes I feel numb thinking about what happened. I was able to push my feelings down so far that I didn’t have to deal with the pain.

“I like to think of myself as a strong, powerful woman, but at that moment I lost those traits and I lost myself. I was so scared.”

She added: ‘I hope to learn to forgive myself for being so hard on myself after you raped me and hopefully I can treat my body better by healing from it than I did with it. I don’t want to cry and I don’t want to hate myself, I want to love my body and I want to love myself.”

Investigating officer Ellen Rye said: “Rape myths and stereotypes should not be part of our modern society and should not have a place in safe sex.

“No always means no and it can be demonstrated in different ways. It doesn’t have to be verbal and no matter how a person communicates it, it is valid and must be respected by the other party.

“This was not respected by Nathan Catherall who chose to ignore every victim’s right to say no for his own satisfaction.

“The victims in this case have shown the greatest courage, strength and courage in sharing their experience with the court and I commend them for that.”