Teen rapist forced victim to wipe windows clean before leaving

Lorenz Shannyn Mekuli, 17, was jailed for eight years for raping a woman in front of her daughter in Hamilton in April.

After raping a young woman in front of her daughter, a Hamilton teenager then made her wipe down the windows to get rid of his fingerprints.

Lorenz Shannyn Mekuli broke into the woman's house through a window which had been left ajar about 7am on April 7, this year.

After rummaging through her handbag, he went into the 23-year-old's room where she was sleeping with her daughter.

Mekuli then proceeded to strangle the pair simultaneously with one hand on their throats.

He then carried out a violent rape in the hallway of their home in front of her seven-year-old daughter.

Mekuli was jailed for eight years in the Hamilton District Court on Friday in a rape described by Judge Louis Bidois as "as bad as it gets".

The victim earlier told the Herald she was angry with the sentence and knew that he would be out in just over two years as he only has to serve a third of his sentence before being eligible for parole.

The six month's he's spent in custody since his arrest gets discounted off his sentence.

The crown did not make an application for a minimum non-parole period.

His defence counsel, Sacha Nepe, said her client had a troubled childhood which saw him become accustomed to domestic violence and drug use.

A combination of poor cognitive function and youth meant he struggled to recognise the impact of his actions, she said.

She submitted a long prison term would be "crushing", a factor accepted by the judge.

The court heard the harrowing details of the rape which initially saw the victim and her daughter nearly lose consciousness as Mekuli strangled them.

He then dragged them to the hallway and forced the victim to undress and made her daughter sit and watch the attack.

After carrying out the rape, which saw him repeatedly punch the victim in the face and threaten to kill her and her daughter, he then forced her to wipe down the window sills, the court heard.

He then demanded that she drive him to a location where he could make his getaway.

As well as psychological trauma, the victim suffered a fractured shoulder, broken tooth and bruising to several areas of her body.

The victim told the Herald it was then that she saw an opportunity to escape, as she could see her neighbour in the distance on the driveway of his home.

She grabbed her daughter, pushed her in front of her and ran down across the road to the safety of her neighbour who then called police.

"I was really frightened and in so much pain, but just the fact that he was trying to take us somewhere and I was like 'oh my God, I need to make a way to escape' because I didn't want my daughter to die."

The victim, who suffered post-traumatic stress disorder after the attack, said she thought both she and her daughter were going to die that night.

"I can't believe he only got eight years for what happened. He almost killed me and he almost killed my daughter," she said.

She felt scared going to the sentencing to see her rapist and to see him sentenced for eight years.

"He almost killed me, he break into my house, he rape me in front of my daughter. This is something that is going to be with me my whole life, especially my daughter as well."

Although Mekuli has been behind bars since his arrest days after the incident, she continues to live in fear that he or his associates will strike again.

She said her daughter was doing okay but her life had been turned upside down; she lost her job, lost her house and lost her life.

She said she still struggled to sleep.

"It's not good. I can't understand how this has happened."

Judge Bidois did not give Mekuli, who was supported in court by his parents and other family members, any credit for remorse because he hadn't shown any.