Duarte Correia (20) targeted his victim after spotting her drunkenly stumbling home alone near Howard Davis Park late at night last August.
After following the 26-year-old he tried to talk to the woman before kissing her – and eventually took her into a small car park off Chapel Lane, which links St James Street and Clarence Road, and subjected her to a sex attack.
Just moments before the assault the woman texted a friend after realising she was being followed, saying: ‘I have to shake this man off.’
The Royal Court heard that Correia – who pinned the woman against a wall and pulled her clothes down – only stopped after being disturbed by a dog walker.
He fled but was arrested at his home later in the night.
The Madeiran national was last month found guilty of attempted rape following a four-day Jurat trial and was sentenced on Monday to five years’ youth detention and placed on the Sex Offenders Register for a minimum of five years by the Superior Number, which convenes for the Island’s most serious cases.
The court also recommended that he should be deported when he is released – a decision that will ultimately be signed off by the Lieutenant-Governor.
Outlining the case, Crown Advocate Robert MacRae, prosecuting, said that Correia, who moved to Jersey in January last year, targeted the woman after spending the night bombarding a former girlfriend with texts and phone calls about their failed relationship.
While attacking the woman he was disturbed by a passer-by, Islander Ian Talibard, who confronted him and chased him through the streets, and he was arrested in bed at his parents’ house later that night.
Delivering the court’s sentence, Commissioner Sir Michael Birt said: ‘It must be every woman’s nightmare to be sexually attacked by a stranger in the street at night. And that is what you did.
‘You accosted a clearly intoxicated woman on her way home and attempted to rape her. Fortunately you were interrupted by a passer-by who was walking his dogs.’
Sir Michael told the defendant that the attack, which has left his victim scared to go out at night, had been aggravated by two factors.
‘Firstly you selected a lone, intoxicated and vulnerable female and secondly there was a modest element of abduction in that you took her to a dark car park off a quiet street.’
Announcing the court’s decision to recommend deportation, Sir Michael added: ‘The court is determined to do what it can to protect the interests of women walking home alone in Jersey. We consider the public interest in this case outweighs the interference with the family life of the defendant.’
Advocate Caitriona Fogarty, defending, said that her client, who has been assessed as being at moderate risk of committing another sex attack, was a hard-working young man with no previous convictions who had been in continuous full-time employment since arriving in Jersey in January last year.
She said that he was highly thought of be his employers, who would re-employ him even in the knowledge of the offence, and added: ‘It is inexplicable that this person would find himself in this current situation.’
He has always denied the offence and claims that the woman instigated the sexual activity moments after they began chatting in the street.
After delivering the sentence, Sir Michael commended Mr Talibard for approaching Correia and chasing him when he tried to escape.
Jurats Geoffrey Fisher, Paul Nicolle, Sylvia Milner, Michael Liston and Charles Blampied were sitting on the case.
