Swindon man guilty of rape (From The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald)

Swindon man guilty of rape

1:46pm Wednesday 21st February 2007 in Swindon By Gazette Reporter

A jury has found Swindon man Darren Haakansen guilty of all but one charge.

Haakansen, 37, of Penhill, was yesterday convicted of attempts to kill, but jurors failed to reach verdicts on another four charges.

Today at Bristol Crown Court he was also convicted of attempted murder, one count of rape and one of false imprisonment.

He was cleared of a second rape charge.

The jury began deliberating on Monday afternoon. The court had previously heard that on July 10 last year Haakansen raped and falsely imprisoned a woman, before threatening to kill them both.

He forced the woman to drive him towards Reading in her car, and grabbed the steering wheel, crashing them into a 44-tonne lorry.

Speaking in court as a witness, Haakansen admitted that he had grabbed the woman by the throat three times, before trying to make a noose to kill himself.

The case has been adjourned while psychiatric reports are prepared.Sentencing will take place at a later date.