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A British hitchhiker who was raped at the side of the road in Portugal says she was was left traumatised after her attacker walked free from court laughing.

Kate Juby, 23, snapped a happy photo after the trip of a lifetime to a music festival before she headed to the airport to begin her journey home to Suffolk. 

But less than than an hour after the snap was taken, Kate was picked up by a violent man who drove her down a dirt track and raped her twice.

Tiago Curado de Sousa, 33, who subjected Kate to a humiliating 20-minute assault, was allowed to walk free from court.

 Kate Juby, 23, from Suffolk, was the victim of a sex attack after a music festival in Portugal

Kate, now 24, from Suffolk, hopes to change the Portuguese legal system to make sure no other victims end up in her position

Tiago Curado de Sousa, 33, (pictured) who subjected Kate to a humiliating 20-minute assault, was allowed to walk free from court

Despite admitting his guilt, twisted Curado de Sousa laughed as he strolled out of court arm-in-arm with his wife as he returned to normal life.

Now Kate, now 24, who was left traumatised, says she hopes to change the Portuguese legal system to make sure no other victims end up in her position.   

And she says things need to change for British citizens who are subject to sex attacks overseas.

Kate's adult life was just beginning when it was ripped apart by the horrific attack. 

She said of the attack: 'I knew my life was different then, for the rest of it. I knew I'd never be me again.  

She was in the first year of a food development degree at Liverpool John Moores University when she decided to join friends at a festival near Aljezur in April 2017.

After several days there, she had to return to Faro to catch her flight home. Pictures show her with a friend on April 14, clutching a large cardboard sign before they parted ways.

But less than an hour after that happy holiday photo was taken, Kate was picked up by a violent rapist who drove her down a dirt track and raped her

She says many people had told her that hitchhiking was safe on the Algarve and she didn't think that just an hour later she would be running for her very life.

It wasn't long before pervert mechanic Curado de Sousa pulled over and offered to take her part of the way.

About ten miles into the journey, the brute began indicating to turn off.

Panicked, Kate asked him where he was going, but he reassured her that he just had to pick up a car for scrap and it would only take five minutes.

Instead, after loading the car he suddenly appeared at the passenger side shouting 'come on baby!' and clutching his groin.

Kate struggled, but he grabbed her shoulders, dragged her out and raped her twice against the side of the truck.

Kate's injuries three days after the attack when she returned to the UK. Kate was dragged out and raped her twice against the side of the truck

'I thought I was going to die. I kept saying "Please don't kill me" Kate, now 24, said.

'I said 'If you do this just please let me go, please don't murder me.'

'He kept calling me baby which was so disgusting, horrible and gross. I was just screaming.

'When he finally let go I grabbed my backpack and ran.'

Scrambling desperately through rough grassland, Kate eventually made it back to the main road where she flagged down a pair of passing German tourists covered her in a blanket.

But almost as disturbing as the rape itself was the shocking aftercare she says she received in Portimao Hospital.

She said: 'They pinned me down onto a bed and they took all my clothes away from me.

'The doctor told me to stop crying, he told me I needed to 'man up'.

Scrambling desperately through rough grassland, Kate eventually made it back to the main road where she flagged down a pair of passing German tourists covered her in a blanket

'They pinned my arm down and put needles in my arm, injected me with two liquids - I didn't know what they were - they took blood samples from me, then swabbed everywhere to get the DNA but all the time holding me down and telling me not to make any noise and not to cry.

'They told me to stop being a baby as well. The doctor was really cruel to me. It was horrible.'

The injections she was given were antiretrovirals and antibiotics and she was also given emergency contraceptive pills.

Kate was then taken to Portimao's Judiciary Police but claims she wasn't given a glass of water for four hours and had to wait for three more until she was allowed to call her mother Deborah Stanton, 56, back home in Suffolk.

Kate on holiday with friends in Portugal. Kate was taken to Portimao's Judiciary Police but claims she wasn't given a glass of water for four hours

Kate poses with her bags before flying to Portugal. She received shocking aftercare in Portimao Hospital

Remembering the most difficult phone call of her life, Kate said of her mother's reaction: 'I could hear her heart breaking on the other side of the phone.

'I just started crying and my mum just started crying as she knew something really bad had happened.

'All she could hear was me crying and she was begging me to tell her what happened.

'I said 'mum I've been raped.' The screaming cry from her, it was so painful to hear.

'Neither of us could really talk because we were crying so much.

'Telling my mum what had happened made it all real. I'd been so desperate to talk to her as I'd been in this room with seven male police officers, all talking in Portuguese.

'And my dad, I knew it would be even harder. I couldn't even tell my dad myself. I couldn't do it.'

Kate's dad, who is separated from her mum, added: 'I was heartbroken. I felt guilty. As a parent your child is never a grown up, they're always a child and you want to protect them.

Kate suffers night terrors and would often break down over the memories of her attack

'For someone to violate my daughter like that is*...well, I'd failed.'

Kate added: 'I feel so sorry for them, because they felt so helpless and I knew they'd change anything if they could, but obviously they can't.'

Police found Curado de Sousa that night and he was brought into the station.

Just six hours later, a battered and bruised Kate picked him out during an ID parade.

She recalled: 'The other side of the glass, there was the man that raped me. He was smiling.

'It was as traumatising as being raped in the first place.

'I started hysterically crying. Six hours before this man had raped me. No-one told me anything. I was completely alone.'

She says she was also left waiting alone in a side room, just metres from where her attacker was sitting in full view.

At 11pm, she says police officers simply said 'You can go now' before opening the door and leaving her on the street.

Fortunately she was able to text her friends who had come to check she was OK.

But a nightmare plane journey ensued, where she had to fly back to London Stansted Airport alone.

Kate went on: 'All I could think was I just wanted to see my mum.

'When I got back, mum was standing in the arrivals hall waiting. She didn't hold it together.

 Remembering the most difficult phone call of her life, Kate said of her mother's reaction: 'I could hear her heart breaking on the other side of the phone'

Kate's mother Deborah Stanton, 56 (left and right), is a trained psychotherapist and soon realised she may have to help her daughter by offering therapy

'She just grabbed me and burst into tears. That was the first time it felt over.

'We had the hour's journey and I just lay on her lap like a child. She was stroking my head and petting my face.'

The pair returned home to Hadleigh, Suffolk, where Kate stayed in bed for a week.

But the memory of what de Sousa had done to her lingered and she suffered night terrors and would often break down.

Her mum is a trained psychotherapist and soon realised she may have to help her daughter by offering therapy.

'She is the reason I'm able to talk about what happened to me today,' Kate admits.

'She's so amazing and makes it so easy. Being your mum and your therapist is actually the perfect combination.

'She was just there. She helped me talk about it and be open about it.

'Both her and my dad were just with me and were so helpful.' 

In the aftermath of the attack, Kate was left broken. She dropped out of the university course she loved, spent months living with her mum, could only go out in groups of three or more, now crosses the road to avoid men and finds it hard to work as a chef.

But the legal ramifications of what had happened to her that day have been just as bad.

Bizarrely, she says she was sent a letter asking her if she wanted to take Curado de Sousa to court.

It took 18 months for that to happen and, while he was entitled to legal aid, she did not receive any.

Instead, she had to use Pro Bono Portugal, a group of voluntary lawyers who offer counsel to those who cannot afford it.

That meant she only met her lawyer two hours before the case came to court in October 2018.

A photo of of Kate as a child with her mother. The family flew for a hearing in Portugal

Kate and her family travelled out for the hearing at Lagos Court, which is usually used for minor cases and traffic convictions.

Before the hearing, the family were offered an apology and expenses to walk away and not give evidence.

When they refused, De Sousa admitted his guilt and was later handed a paltry four-and-a-half year suspended sentence and was ordered to pay £1,750 in compensation, which Kate donated to the Portuguese Association for Victim Support.  

Kate said: 'It was outrageous. And they said that in Portugal it was a really good result.

'They have a serious problem over there with rape convictions. A really small percentage of rapists go to prison.

'You are more likely to go to prison for selling drugs than raping someone, it's a bigger crime there.  

'Everybody wants to silence rape victims. Nobody wants to hear your voice.' 

Kate's dad James, 52, took the experience exceptionally badly, while Kate's mum also struggled. 

James said: 'I thought the most painful thing would be to hear what my daughter said happened to her, but that is nowhere near the most painful thing.

Kate is now trying to get over what happened to her and has moved to Bristol where she has found a job and lives with her boyfriend

'The most painful is the fallout.'   

Deborah, who now lives in Harrogate, said: 'There are no words to describe the feeling when your daughter tells you she's been raped.

'As a mum it's your worst nightmare, besides losing your child. It was total and utter shock. My entire system just stopped.

'You have this anger, this frustration, this deep pain, this fear. All at the same time. It's shocking.

'And even worst it was in a different country and couldn't get to her. I wanted to be there with her, to hold her, to keep her safe and I couldn't.

'It has affected her. It's affected all of us. It has really changed her personality.

'She's grown up a lot because of it. She doesn't want it to happen to anyone else. She's going to use it to help others.

'I am so proud of her - the inner strength. She is not letting it beat her, she is using it. I cannot even begin to describe how proud I am of my daughter.'

Kate is now trying to get over what happened to her and has moved to Bristol where she has found a job and lives with her boyfriend Mark Evans, 34.

She is also pressing ahead with plans to appeal Curado de Sousa's punishment and found out just a few weeks ago that the case will go before a higher Portuguese court.

Asked what she had learnt from the experience, Kate said she had proved stronger than she thought.

'I'm so strong,' she said.

'And it's really, really important to speak up.'