NSW truckie Robert Bennett arrived in Brisbane on August 7, 2017 with a single purpose - to kidnap and rape a woman, any woman.
The father of seven drove his truck through Brisbane's western suburbs looking for a victim.
He zeroed in on a waitress working in a Darra Chinese restaurant, watching her for a while before deciding she might be able to use the knives in the kitchen to fight him off.
The 52-year-old then settled on a new target - a woman he saw through a window who was home alone.
The tiny woman with blonde hair who answered the knock at her door never stood a chance against his blitz.
He pushed through the doorway, warned her not to scream before grabbing her from behind.
She fought back with everything she had, managing to free herself and desperately trying to telephone her partner for help before Bennet overpowered her, dragging her to a bedroom where he raped her.
Her ordeal was far from over.
The truckie kidnapped her, forcing her into his truck at knifepoint and tying her leg to the passenger seat to stop her escaping.
Over the next 18 hours, she would be repeatedly be raped and assaulted.
Bennett taunted his victim, threatening to force her to become a sex slave, to sell her organs for transplant or leave her body in a ditch, Brisbane District Court has been told.
He forced her to send messages to friends and family saying she was fine but needed to get away.
Despite her traumatic ordeal his victim, who still suffers nightmares and anxiety, found the courage to confront her rapist in court on Friday.
"I will never be able to understand why you did what you did to me and I hope that you have a long time to think about what you have done and how wrong it all is," she haltingly said.
"I have discovered new courage and strength required to survive a person like you."
Incredibly, she accepted her rapist's handwritten apology.
Robert Andrew Bennett pleaded guilty to four counts of rape, kidnapping, burglary and sexual assault.
Judge David Reid found it was a "depraved and premeditated attack" and sentenced Bennett to 14 years in prison.
He said he held grave doubts Bennett would ever be safe to be released into the community.
"The circumstances of the offending are extraordinary; they are appalling and importantly, they were premeditated," he said.
He praised Bennett's victim as a woman of "significant strength and courage" and hoped she would be able to find the happiness she deserved.
Bennett will be eligible to apply for parole after serving 80 per cent of his the 14-year sentence.
Australian Associated Press
