Peter Steel

Clare Lawton, of Ditton Walk, Cambridge, and Peter Steel, of Sackville Close, Cambridge, tied up the woman’s friend with an electric cord and threatened him with a samurai sword in his flat in Waterbeach.

The terrified woman agreed to go to Steel’s flat in Sackville Close, Cambridge where the pair raped the woman in August last year.

They were found guilty of rape, inflicting grievous bodily harm, burglary and unlawful wounding following a trial at Cambridge Crown Court earlier this year.

Steel was also found guilty of damaging property.

Lawton, 43, who was born a man but has been on hormone therapy, was jailed for a total of 16 years.

Steel, 38, who is also known as Tanya, was sentenced to 17 years – with the 13 year sentencing for rape to be “indeterminate” due to him being considered a danger to the public.

Judge Gareth Hawkesworth said their crimes had been sadistic and that it was hard to imagine that they belonged to the “same human race”.

Detective Constable Nicola Lamport said: “This was an horrific ordeal for the victim who was in fear for her life.

“She tried to protect her friend who had been savagely beaten, but ended up in a terrifying situation.

“The length of prison sentences handed down by the court shows that such behaviour will not be tolerated and offenders face a substantial time behind bars.”