A SEXUAL predator who raped a mother in front of her two children after following them home and breaking in has been jailed.
John Ward, 24, burst into the 28-year-old woman’s house in Rochdale, England, just minutes after she returned home from walking the family dog with her two daughters.
Earlier Ward, from Kirkholt in Rochdale, had aimed barrage of sick taunts at the woman in the street.
After breaking into the family property, he forced himself on the woman in the hallway of her home and in the presence of her two young children.
The children, aged five and nine, both tried to help their mum but Ward scared them off, shouting: "I'm just talking to mum".
After raping the woman, an accomplice who had been watching from the window can into the house.
He was later identified as Aaron Farrell, 24, from Middleton, near Rochdale.
Farrell joined Ward in the house before both men ran from the property.
They were later arrested by police.
The female victim left her home that same day.
Seven months later, she remains so traumatised by the sadistic attack that she has been unable to retur and is instead living in temporary accommodation.
John WardIn a devastating statement provided to police she said: ''These two men destroyed any peace of mind I had. They caused me so much trauma and distress and I moved out with my children because I could not face going back there after what happened.
''I would never be able to walk back into that house again without revisiting the events of that day. I would never be able to settle without flinching at the sound of somebody at the door.
''Initially we stayed with a family member but we needed our own home so my daughters could settle into a routine again.
"However, I am still on the waiting list for a permanent property. None of us anywhere near feeling settled and we are frustrated and upset.
''I have been through such a desperate time and had suicidal thoughts which have subsided now but only with the help of my friends and family who have supported me through my lowest moments.
''My dog now lives with my Nan as I am not able to walk it as all this started when I was out walking my dog. I never want to see these two men again or hear their voices after what they did to me and my children.''
Appearing at Minshull Street Crown Court, Manchester, Ward admitted two charges of rape and sexual assault. He was jailed for 16 years.
Farrell also admitted perverting justice and was jailed for 21 months.
Sentencing Judge John Potter handed Ward an extended jail term given the nature of the crimes committed.
He told him: ''Throughout her appalling and dreadful ordeal, the victim could hear her children screaming and crying as they knew their mother was being attacked on the other side of the living room door.
''She was terrified - not just by this appalling sexual abuse by you but by her helplessness and powerlessness to break free from your grasp and protect herself and her children.
