A FARNHAM man who went on the run from police before his arrest has been sentenced to 10 years in jail for sex offences including the rape of a 15-year-old girl.

Adam Marchment, 25, of Greenhill Way, was sentenced at Guildford Crown Court last Friday on one count of rape and another of sexually assaulting a 14 year old while he was on bail for the first offence.

He pleaded guilty to the sexual assault on the first day of his trial on Monday, April 4, and was found guilty of the rape following a four-day trial.

The judge sentenced Marchment, who has a chequered history with the courts and served time in Highdown Prison as recently as October 2014, to nine years imprisonment for the rape and one year for the sexual assault to run consecutively, plus a four year extension period.

He was also handed a sexual harm prevention order for 10 years and ordered to sign the sex offenders register indefinitely, in addition to a statutory victims surcharge of £120.

During the trial, jurors heard the rape took place in Surrey on July 13, 2014, while the sexual assault happened over a year later on September 19, 2015, at War Memorial Park in Basingstoke.

Following the rape, police launched a manhunt for Marchment in October 2014 after he breached his licence conditions for an earlier offence and failed to attend his statutory appointments with the probation service.

Rather than hand himself into police, Marchment took to social media to taunt the police and posted a YouTube video online challenging officers to “catch me if you can”.

Wearing dark sunglasses and a hooded sweatshirt in the video, Marchment said: “Hello everyone, I’m Adam Marchment and as you all know I am a wanted man. I have now been on the run for 37 days.

“I’ve got a little message for Surrey, Sussex and Hampshire Police - ‘run run as fast as you can, you can’t catch me I’m the Marchment man’.”

Addressing his “Facebook haters” Marchment added: “If you don’t like my messages or my statuses, don’t read them.”

And in “a message for my fans”, he continued: “I hope you’re doing well, I love you all dearly and will keep you all updated on how I’m doing.”

The video, posted on Tuesday, October 7, 2014, has to-date received 3,412 views as well as 31 ‘likes’ and 10 ‘dislikes’.

Marchment also sent The Herald a photograph of himself stood provocatively outside an anonymous police station, before officers eventually caught and arrested the then-23 year old at a house in Farnham on October 14, 2014.