A ‘twisted’ rapist who attacked a woman after spiking her drink blamed the 80 injuries her gave her on a ‘demon’.

Darren Callaghan, 48, claimed his victim became ‘sex-crazed’ after taking MDMA which caused her to act ‘like something out of the Exorcist.’

When she woke semi-naked in the morning with 80 injuries all over her body he tried to convince her they were caused by supernatural activity.

But a court was told ‘this was nothing to do with ghosts’ and Callaghan, who met the woman on a dating website, had laced her drink with ecstasy or MDMA before raping her.

He was a given a 16-year extended prison sentence at Warwick Crown Court on Tuesday and will only be freed if the Parole Board considers it safe to do so.

Sentencing, Judge Andrew Lockhart QC said the case was one of ‘the most appalling pieces of violence associated with rape that the court has witnessed in many years.’

He told Callaghan: ‘Your actions have as good as ruined her life.’

The court heard how Callaghan was keen to give his date a ‘powerful form’ of MDMA, knowing it would have ‘a massive impact’ on someone not used to taking it.

He wanted his victim to be ‘incapacitated’ so he could carry out his ‘perverse and twisted’ desire’ to beat and abuse her.

Judge Lockhart told the defendant: ‘You said she had had a seizure and that her home was possessed. This was a cruel aspect of your behaviour.

‘You showed yourself to be a dangerous and manipulative man.’

Throughout the hearing Callaghan, of Southsea, Hants., interrupted the judge by loudly proclaiming his innocence.

Kim Preston, defending, said: ‘He feels passionately and indignantly about his version of events.

‘He had a distortion in his mind about whether she was able to consent during the intercourse which took place.

‘This defendant did not set out that night to go to her home and assault and rape her.’

But Judge Lockhart QC said: ‘That may be your assessment. You must be mindful that my assessment is different, and the jury’s finding is very different.’

The court had heard Callaghan drove 140 miles from the south coast to meet the woman in Rugby, Warwickshire, for a date after they met on the internet.

They had been getting on well during their online chats and had talked about sex.

The victim, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said he became ‘a little boisterous’ and got physical when he arrived at her house, trying to pull her trousers down, until she told him to stop.

The pair then visited various pubs in Rugby, where she had five or more glasses of wine before they got a taxi back to her house.

Prosecutor Adrian Fleming said Callaghan put drugs in her drink without her consent, causing her to have ‘some sort of seizure’.

He said the victim had no recollection of having sex with ‘whatsoever’.

He said: ‘If she was incapable, any sex he had with her was rape.’