Raped and attacked, offender Bradley McLeod’s victim wants to know what it takes for maximum sentence

A WOMAN who was brutally raped and attacked in her own home by serious violent offender Bradley McLeod wants to know what it takes for a rapist to be given a maximum sentence.

Raped and attacked, serious violent offender Bradley McLeod’s victim wants to know what it takes for a maximum sentence.

A WOMAN who was brutally raped and attacked in her own home by serious violent offender Bradley McLeod wants to know what it takes for a rapist to be given a maximum sentence.

On Thursday, McLeod, 28, was sentenced to 13 years in jail after hiding in the woman’s Arundel home before attacking and raping her when she returned from a run on December 21, 2014.

The maximum penalty for the crime of rape is life imprisonment — a sentence that carries a minimum non-parole period of 20 years.

Yesterday, the Gold Coast teacher, who cannot be identified, asked, “What does a person have to do to be considered the maximum for the crime?’’

MONSTER RAPIST LURKED ON GOLD COAST STREETS

“As a citizen, I don’t quite understand why if a person offends, especially if they offend in such a horrific and traumatic way, with that degree of premeditation involved, why he shouldn’t automatically get a maximum sentence,” she said.

“The thing that didn’t get really mentioned in court was the fact I escaped.

“I didn’t stick around to find out what could have happened afterwards.

Bradley McLeod. He is pictured here leaving Mackay court in 2011. Photo: Daily Mercury

“I could very well have lost my life and become another statistic.”

The woman, who was 29 at the time she was attacked, said her case was “black and white” but at times she felt “powerless” and “without a voice” during the court proceedings.

She said despite the fact she had received a letter of apology from her attacker, who claimed to be so drugged he could not remember the offence, it did not carry much weight because it was dated two days before the man was sentenced.

“If he had really thought long and hard about what he wanted to say, I don’t think he would have waited two days before sentencing to say it and I’m sure if he was truly remorseful I would have heard from him before now,” she said.

The woman told the Gold Coast Bulletin the past few years had been “surreal”.

“It’s such a surreal situation. You never think this is going to happen to you,” she said.

“A lot of the time in society they talk about how women need to watch what they’re wearing or watch who they are with, or how many drinks they consume, and I wasn’t doing any of that.

“I took a jog around the block in my own neighbourhood and returned to my own home.

“I mean, you can’t caution someone against doing what they’re doing when they’re just living their life.”

The woman said the violent attack had not only had a daily impact on her life, she was worried about the long-term impacts on her relationship.

“It’s definitely more of an anxious existence these days,” she said.

“Before, I was far more carefree.

“I do worry about the long-term effects it will have on the both of us but we can only do the best we know how with the circumstances we were dealt with.

“It’s definitely something that is going to impact me for the rest of my life but I’m going to take each day as it comes.

“There is always going to be a part of me that was lost that day and a part that will never recover from what happened.”