A judge branded a man a 'significant risk' to the public as he jailed him for raping a woman after throwing her into the river in Norwich.

Adrian Olley's victim was left with 45 separate injuries following the attack close to Bishop Bridge in the city.

Yesterday, Judge Stephen Holt passed an indeterminate prison sentence on 30-year-old Olley, left, of Woodbastwick Road, Blofield, and ordered that he must serve a period of five-and-a-half years in jail before the parole board can assess whether or not he is eligible to be released.

Judge Holt told Olley: 'In my view, you're dangerous and you do present a high risk and a significant risk of serious harm to the public as a result of what you did on that night.'

Olley was sentenced at Norwich Crown Court yesterday having been found guilty in November of one count of rape against a woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, after they shared a taxi following a night out in Norwich on June 9.

The court previously heard when she got out on Riverside Road, Olley followed her before throwing her into the river, close to Bishop Bridge, and then raping her. She was left with 45 separate injuries.

Olley, who had denied two counts of rape and one of threats to kill, was cleared of threatening to kill the woman by the jury who could not reach a verdict on the second rape charge.

Judge Holt said: 'It's quite clear she must've been extremely frightened and terrified by this whole thing. In my opinion this was an extremely serious offence of rape involving throwing the woman into the river prior to raping her.'

Earlier, Richard Potts, prosecuting, said it had been a 'sustained attack' and urged the judge to consider the contents of the pre-sentence report in which concluded that the defendant posed a high risk of serious harm.

He asked for the second count of rape, upon which no verdict was reached, to lie on file as it emerged the defence has lodged an appeal against the conviction.

Michael Hubbard QC, defending, who confirmed an appeal has been lodged, said he was concerned about the contents of the pre-sentence report and described Olley as a 'model offender' who had been dignified in the way he had dealt with the case.

Mr Hubbard QC said the jury 'by no means accepted this woman's testimony in total' and reminded the judge that his client was acquitted on one count, of threats to kill, while the jury could not reach a decision on the second count of rape.

He said: 'This is a solitary offence of rape of limited duration of no particular violence.'

He added: 'There was no violence of a serious nature beyond superficial injuries.'

Speaking after the case, Detective Inspector Ross McDermott, head of the Constabulary's Rape Investigation Unit, welcomed the conviction saying: 'This was a challenging case for the Constabulary, dealing with a very vulnerable lady who had disclosed a violent rape in Norwich, causing significant trauma to her and her family.

'It should be noted that officers arrived on scene quickly and preserved significant evidence, key to ensuring that this case was successful at court. The officers who have worked on this case tirelessly to maintain and develop the evidence for this trial since the offence took place in June 2012 should also be praised.

'I hope that the strength of the victim in coming forward and supporting the police investigation throughout, will provide an example to any other victims of similar offences and shows that by working together, we can and will bring dangerous perpetrators to justice.'