A ma n who sexually assaulted a woman and held her at knifepoint was yesterday jailed for five years.

Randall O’Brian King Jr, 35, pleaded guilty last year to depriving a woman of liberty, sexually assaulting her and having a knife in a public place in connection to an incident on July 1 last year.

Prosecutor Cindy Clarke told the court that at around 2.45pm that day the victim, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, was sitting on the beach at Jobson’s Cove when King, of no fixed abode, approached her and asked to “borrow her shade”.

She said no, pointing out several other shaded areas, but King instead sat a few feet away and began asking her for her phone number and a date, which she also refused stating that she was in a relationship.

The victim left the beach, walking towards the parking lot at Warwick Long Bay when she heard King shout at her and then grab her buttocks.

She yelled at him not to touch her and, now frightened, continued to her car.

She got into the vehicle, shut the door and started the engine but King opened the passenger door and sat next to her.

The victim told him to get out of her car, but King produced a knife and there was a brief struggle with the victim shouting for help and honking her horn, but King insisted that she start driving saying: “I could cut open your vein and kill you. You would be dead.”

A woman in the area saw the incident and called the police. She got into her own car and followed the victim’s vehicle as it drove away from the area with King inside.

As they drove, King told the victim: “Do you realise what you have just done? You f***ing idiot. You just sent me to Westgate. I just wanted some p***y. I haven’t had sex in a year.”

The victim attempted to turn into Warwick Camp, but King insisted that she continue along South Road until they encountered a police vehicle blocking traffic.

King surrendered, apologising to officers and admitting his actions.

As the victim got out of the car, she noticed she had sustained several small cuts on her hands.

In a subsequent interview, King admitted following the victim, grabbing her buttocks and holding her at knifepoint, saying: “I’m disgusted with myself. I just wanted to have sex with her.”

Ms Clarke noted that King was jailed for two months in 2012 for two counts of intruding on the privacy of a 14-year-old girl, calling for an immediate custodial sentence.

However defence lawyer Kamal Worrell argued that a community sentence would be appropriate, saying: “I think this man should be offered the help he needs. Whatever treatment is available, I think Mr King should be given.”

Mr Worrell also said his client had been heavily intoxicated on the day of the incident and admitted his actions at the earliest opportunity.

King himself apologised to the court, saying he has prayed that the victim and her family have been able to find closure.

“What I did has shocked me,” he said. “I think about what I did. I think about what person I represented to that woman and how her memory of me is stamped in her mind as someone who is grotesque.

“I don’t understand why I did it. I have been sexually attracted to a lot of women and I have never done anything like that.”

Delivering his sentence, Puisne Judge Carlisle Greaves said: “On the facts of the case I can only consider the defendant to be a particularly dangerous man to young women and society.

“He has been previously convicted within the last two years of intruding on the privacy of a young lady of 14 years.

“Now he has elevated his behaviour in the province of abduction and sexual assault of a female stranger using a bladed weapon.”

King was sentenced to five years for both sexual assault and possessing a bladed article, and three-and-a-half years for deprivation of liberty.

All three sentences will run concurrently, with time already served taken into account.

A period of three years probation will follow the prison time, with Mr Justice Greaves ordering that King take part in any programmes or treatment recommended by the Department of Court Services.