A woman who was repeatedly raped by a home invader while her terrified seven-year-old daughter was forced to watch has slammed her rapist's eight-year jail sentence.

Hamilton teenager Lorenz Shannyn Mekuli, 17, was sentenced in the Hamilton District Court on Friday, on charges of rape, abduction for sex, injuring with intent to injure, threatening to kill, sexual violation, attempted kidnapping, burglary and assault on a child.

Following the sentencing, the woman who was subjected to Mekuli's depraved acts in her home in suburban Hamilton on the morning of Saturday, April 8 contacted Stuff to express her unhappiness with the sentence imposed by Judge Louis Bidois.

CHRISTEL YARDLEY/STUFF Lorenz Mekuli, 17, was sentenced to eight years in jail when he appeared in the Hamilton District Court on Friday on a raft of charges including rape, sexual violation and assault on a child.

"It is unbelievable he has only got eight years. It is not nearly enough," she said.

"He almost killed me. He almost killed my daughter."

She hoped judges dealing with such criminals in future would not be so lenient on offenders like Mekuli.

She also urged women who lived alone to be extra vigilant with their home security and to make sure all their doors and windows were securely locked, to prevent what happened to her happening to someone else.

At his sentencing, Mekuli stared straight ahead as he sat in the dock as the details of his offending were read out and his victim wept in the public gallery.

"This is as bad as it gets in any description," said Judge Louis Bidois, adding that Mekuli had "totally destroyed" the life of his victim through his actions on the morning of Saturday, April 7.

It was around 7am when Mekuli climbed into the lounge of his victim's house in St Andrew's, Hamilton, through a window that had been left open.

He initially took cash from the woman's handbag, but then crept into the bedroom where the woman and her daughter were asleep in bed together.

He jumped on the bed and began strangling both the woman and the daughter.

In spite of their screams and pleading to be let go, he then dragged them both into the hallway where he forced the woman to remove her clothes.

Then, over a lengthy period, he raped the woman three times, punching her in the face, and forced her to perform oral sex on him while her daughter was forced to watch. He also sexually violated the woman and performed oral sex on her.

At the end of the ordeal he punched the woman in the face again and then demanded she wipe down the windows where he had entered, so as to remove any trace of his fingerprints.

Then he demanded that she give him the keys to her car and indicated that he wanted her to drive them to some other location.

But as they were leaving the house the woman grabbed her daughter and the pair fled to a neighbouring house where the police were called.

Mekuli was tracked down and arrested by the police about six days later. He pleaded guilty to the burglary charge, which was dealt with under the auspices of the youth court.

However he did not plead guilty to his other charges until the day he was due to have a judge-alone trial.

As the court heard, he had been smoking methamphetamine for about two days prior to the incident.

Crown prosecutor Louella Dunn said the Mekuli's victim had provided the court with a detailed statement about how the "horrific" incident had changed her life.

She had suffered a broken shoulder, a broken tooth, severe bruising to her face and genital area and had experienced a post-traumatic stress incident in Waikato Hospital soon after the incident.

Her daughter also had a sore throat and had trouble breathing for some time afterward.

She and her daughter had been forced to leave their home. She had also lost the confidence and the ability to enjoy the pleasures of life such as going out in public and going out at night. She also had experienced great difficulty sleeping since the incident.

The mother had ordered her daughter to close her eyes during the worst parts of her ordeal, however the girl was still able to hear every detail of what was happening.

Dunn sought a start point of 14 years in jail, and said the community needed to be protected from him for a long as possible.

"There is a risk of reoffending. There is a risk to the public," she said.

Mekuli's counsel Sasha Nepe asked for a lower starting point, and urged the judge to bear in mind her client's upbringing, which had featured much domestic violence and other kinds of abuse.

The guilty plea had been delayed because Mekuli had been unable to comprehend the enormity of the charges he was facing, she said.

"The court needs to consider the particular circumstances of this young person."

Judge Bidois opted for a 13-year start, and then immediately lowered it to 12 years in recognition of Mekuli's limited cognitive functions and the social deprivation and upbringing he experienced.

Mekuli had exhibited no remorse at all for his victim, however the judge allowed a 35 per cent discount for his guilty plea and youth, which brought the sentence down to eight years.

The woman and her daughter had endured a "harrowing" experience.

"Words do not express the sadness and shame that we all feel for your offending."