April 2014: Browbank has since been released and is now living in Harraby
February 2005
10 YEARS IN JAIL FOR BRUTAL RAPE OF TEENAGE GIRL
A LORRY driver has been sentenced to 10 years for rape after his own wife contacted police when she spotted him featured in a police appeal.
Fifty-eight-year-old Thomas Browbank, of Howrigg Bank, Wigton, was caught after a CCTV still was printed as part of a police appeal for information. Browbank was convicted of stalking a teenage girl through Wigton and repeatedly raping her in a field.
It took a jury less than 45 minutes to find him guilty of three rapes and two other serious sex attacks at the conclusion of a week-long trial.
Prosecutor Tim Evans said: “When the police appealed in the News & Star for information upon the identity of the man shown in the released CCTV still, the defendant’s own wife phoned the rape incident room to say it was him.”
Browbank wept openly in the dock as he was sentenced at Carlisle Crown Court.
Judge Paul Batty, QC told him: “You are upset now but I believe it is self-pity – not pity for your victim.”
The judge told Browbank, who must stay on the Sex Offenders Register indefinitely, that his behaviour towards his victim had been barbaric.
Browbank forced his victim into a field and told her: “Look at me or talk and I will kill you” before carrying out his brutal attacks in the early hours of May 9 last year.
Mr Evans read out a statement from the 18-year-old victim, whose anonymity is protected by law.
The girl said it felt as though she had lost her 18th year – friends had drifted away because she was no fun to be with and her studies had suffered.
She did not like being around older men and had suffered a panic attack when one appeared to be following her through a shop in Carlisle.
But she said at the end: “I don’t want to remain a victim stuck at home. I don’t want this to ruin my life. I don’t want to be a zombie any more.”
Browbank, who denied all the offences, told the jury he had no memory of the relevant time – but could not be a rapist because of his ill-health.
Swabs taken from him after his arrest, and from the girl’s clothing, provided a DNA match with odds of more than 81 million-to-one being stacked against him.
The victim was also able to draw for the judge, while she gave evidence, a tattoo on her attacker’s arm. It matched one that Browbank has.
Greg Hoare, defending, said Browbank’s loss of memory may have been genuine and brought on by the amount of drink he had taken that night.
He pointed out that the defendant was of previous good character and that his family would also have to suffer the stigma of the verdict.
Detective Inspector Paul Smith, senior investigating officer in the case, said: “The sentence reflects the appalling circumstances of this assault, and the fact that despite overwhelming evidence, including DNA evidence, Browbank failed to possess the moral courage to accept responsibility for his actions.
“As a result of that the victim had to re-live the whole terrible ordeal from the witness box.
“With regard to the victim she is an outstanding young woman who has shown immense bravery and fortitude throughout this case. She has earned the utmost admiration of the whole inquiry team.”
