A RAPIST who struck as a woman slept has been jailed for five years and four months.

Burnley Crown Court heard Wayne Lee, 40, was said to be angry with the victim and alleged she engineered the situation.

But Judge Beverley Lunt told Lee: "It's your fault. It's your wrong thinking, not as a result of anything she did."

The defendant, of Colville Street, Burnley, had admitted rape following the incident last April. He had no previous convictions.

The judge told the hearing Lee had minimised what he had done to probation officers and had little victim empathy Jeremy Grout-Smith, prosecuting, told the court the victim awoke in a house in Burnley in the early hours to find the defendant having sex with her.

Lee, said to have been violent and to have punched walls in frustration, was alleged to have had four bottles of wine before the attack.

The victim immediately 'felt sick' and was so shocked 'she froze and could not speak', the court heard.

When police arrived he was said to have laughed and joked while officers were conducting their preliminary investigations. DNA evidence proved the defendant was the rapist.

The hearing was told when he was questioned by police, Lee said he couldn't remember what happened because of the drink but then began to recall considerable details.

The prosecutor said when the forensic evidence was put to the defendant, he made no comment.

Elizabeth Nicholls, defending Lee, described the case as a 'tragedy for all involved'.

Miss Nicholls said: "This defendant more than anybody else would wish he could turn the clock back. He cannot do that. He cannot wipe away what happened."

The barrister said after the offence, Lee had left in a clearly distressed state indicating to people that he was intending to commit suicide.

The defendant was also placed on the Sex Offenders' Register for life.