A rapist has been jailed for a total of 16 years after carrying out a “traumatic” attack on a teenage girl.

Mpilo Mithunzi appeared at Lewes Crown Court for sentencing yesterday after he was found guilty of rape and supplying class A drugs by a jury.

The prosecution said the 40-year-old carried out the attack after inviting the young woman to an address in Upper Rock Gardens in Brighton in August last year.


When she and a friend arrived at the address, he “manipulated and coerced” her, gave her drugs and then raped her, the court heard.

In court the victim, who cannot be named for legal reasons, spoke about the devastating impact the crime has had on her life, but chose not to appear behind screens during her evidence and cross examination.

She said: “I’ve had nightmares about him, waking up with tears on my face, and having to talk to some one. So it has had a big impact on my family.”

Judge Guy Anthony praised her for her bravery in facing her attacker openly in court.

Mithunzi, of Hereford Street in Brighton, is unemployed, and Rachael Beckett, prosecuting, read out a list of his former convictions, which included both drugs possession and drug dealing offences.

He was also charged for a battery against a young woman in August 2016. He grabbed her by the throat during the attack, and she eventually escaped via a bathroom window.

The Zimbabwean arrived in the UK in 2000. It was noted that both he and his parents have been the victims of torture under the former regime of Robert Mugabe.

For this reason it is understood that he was not deported from the UK after he was convicted for possessing ecstasy with intent to supply in September 2006, for which he was jailed for 19 months.

But since then he has faced community orders and suspended prison sentences, including for the attack on the woman in August 2016, and for possessing a 38cm machete in public.

He could now face deportation.

Judge Guy Anthony sentenced him to nine years in prison for rape, and seven years in prison for supplying class A drugs, with the sentences to run consecutively.

The judge also activated two previous suspended sentences for six months and for six weeks, but these will be concurrent to his prison time.

Detective Constable Sophie Tullett of the Brighton Safeguarding Investigations Unit said: "This was an appalling experience for the young and very vulnerable girl. She was seemingly in an atmosphere of enjoyment and freedom, but the reality was very different.

"Mthunzi manipulated and coerced her into a situation which rapidly escalated out of her control, leaving her traumatised and struggling to cope with her life.

"If you have been the victim of sexual assault in situations like this, or know of anyone who has been, there is no need to suffer in silence."

Victims can talk in confidence to specialist investigators by visiting www.sussex.police.uk/cse or by calling 101 and quoting Operation Rock.