Jack Crannage

Introduction

Jack Crannage is a 27-year-old man from Hartlepool who was jailed for nine years at Teesside Crown Court after a jury found him guilty of rape . During the assault, Crannage ignored his victim’s repeated pleas to stop, told her to “stop complaining” while he was raping her, and afterwards told her to “just forget about it” . He denied the offence throughout, forcing his victim to give evidence at a three-day trial, and the judge told him there was no mitigation available to him in the form of an admission, apology or remorse .

Background Information

Crannage was a Hartlepool man in his mid-twenties at the time of the offence and the trial; the court reporting of the case contains no public professional profile for him, and his notoriety comes entirely from the assault and his conduct around it . The case was prosecuted at Teesside Crown Court, with Annelise Haugstad appearing for the prosecution, and was covered by the BBC’s North East reporter Duncan Leatherdale from the court . Judge Peter Armstrong sentenced him and praised the victim for “bravely” attending court to give evidence against him .

The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation

Convicted of rape and sentenced to nine years.

Teesside Crown Court heard that Crannage forced himself upon his victim, ignoring her pleas to stop, and as he raped her told her to “stop complaining” while she repeatedly told him to get off . When he finished, the court heard, he told her to “just forget about it” . Crannage denied the rape, and the case went to a three-day trial at which his victim had to give evidence, because — as she told the court — his continual lies had made that unavoidable . The jury convicted him of rape at the end of that trial .

Public Reaction and Consequences

The victim told the court she now felt scared and anxious, that Crannage’s actions had “changed who I am”, and that she had initially feared people would think she was to blame before realising it was not her fault . “He made me have to go to court to get justice,” she said, adding “I knew I was telling the truth but I was still scared”, and that while she now had to look forward she would “never forget what he has done to me” . Judge Peter Armstrong praised her for “bravely” attending court, said her statement showed the psychological harm Crannage caused had been “severe”, and told him he had lacked the “courage” or “good sense” to plead guilty, leaving himself no mitigation from admission, apology or remorse .

Current Status

Crannage is serving a nine-year prison sentence for rape following his conviction at Teesside Crown Court, reported on 2 November 2026 . A rape conviction of this kind also carries the automatic notification requirements of the Sex Offenders Register, and with a sentence of nine years he will serve a substantial portion of the term in custody before any release on licence . No appeal against the conviction or sentence was reported in the coverage of the sentencing .

Impact on Their Career/Life

At 27, Crannage begins a nine-year custodial term that will take him into his mid-thirties, with a rape conviction on his record that the court heard came without a shred of the mitigation a plea, an apology or any expression of remorse would have provided . The judge’s public comments framed the case as one in which the offender’s own lies — continued through trial — inflicted additional harm on his victim by forcing her to relive the assault in front of a jury, an aggravating feature now permanently part of how the case is recorded .

Sources

• “Rapist who told woman to ‘forget about it’ jailed” — BBC News, 2 November 2026: source