A MAN with a bent penis who raped a woman as she lay asleep on a sofa after a drunken night out has been jailed for eight years.

The 23-year-old woman had woken to find naked stranger Paul Lee straddling her in her friend's Gloucester flat.

When she fell asleep she had been fully clothed - but when she woke she found she had nothing on except her knickers, which were inside out and back to front, Gloucester Crown Court was told.

The woman noticed that her nose was bleeding and that she had injuries including bruising to her legs and buttocks.

Lee, 32, of Millers Dyke, Quedgeley, who suffers from the 'bent penis syndrome' Peyronie's disease, denied the woman's allegations categorically and told the jury he had not touched her sexually - and he had not taken her clothes off.

He said he had gone to sleep in an armchair in the same room as the woman and at one stage woke in the night to find she had her hands down his trousers.

He claimed he told her to get off because he was feeling too drunk and sick for sex and that was all that had happened between them.

But on Tuesday, May 13, after a three day trial a jury of six men and six women convicted him of raping the woman on November 18, 2012.

Judge Jamie Tabor QC told Lee he had been 'convicted on the clearest possible evidence of sexually interfering with this highly vulnerable young woman.'

The judge added: "You couldn't resist the temptation for whatever reason to have your way with her. "

He said a victim impact statement from the woman, describing how the offence has affected her, underlined the prolonged psychological damage rape can cause.

In her statement the woman described how she lived with the fear that she might have contracted HIV, Hepatitis B or some other sexually transmitted disease from Lee.

She had to undergo medical tests and did not get the all clear until early last year, she stated.

"This process was horrible, it made me feel sick and dirty. Not knowing if I had caught something was frightening," she added.

"My life has been affected in so many ways.

"The offence has made me very nervous of public places and I am not confident going to the gym. Before the attack I was almost over-confident but now I check everyone in detail and make sure I know a way out of the room in any situation.

"I ended up leaving my job because it was too difficult to face and I felt vulnerable in an all male environment.

"I was not a negative person but now I always imagine the worse and see unknown males as possible attackers."

She also stated that because she did not know Lee before the attack she has felt nervous in public because he might be around.

During the trial the jury heard the woman had been out clubbing with friends in Gloucester and they all returned to her friend's home in the early hours of the morning.

Lee, who had not known any of the group, had tagged along with them and fell asleep in the living room of the flat.

When the others could not rouse him he was left sleeping in an armchair while the woman slept on the sofa fully clothed.

But after the female flat owner had gone to bed Lee stripped off and then took the woman's clothes off and subjected her to some degree of violence before having sex with her as she slept.

When she woke to find him straddling her she went into her friend's bedroom to tell her what had happened. Lee was ordered to leave and when later arrested he refused to answer any questions or allow intimate swabs to be taken.

In evidence, Lee denied any sexual approach to the woman and said he remained fully clothed all night.

He said he never had one night stands with women because he suffers from Peyronie's disease which has caused his penis to be bent.

It bends to the left and is embarassing to show to women until after he has got into a loving relationship with them, he said,

The jury was shown a photograph of his penis.