Description
A Southampton man has been jailed for 13 years after he attempted to rape a woman while she slept.
Amro Badawi, age 28, of Mandela Way, Southampton denied the offences which included one count of rape, one count of attempted rape and one count of sexual assault.
After a five day trial in December, a jury at Southampton Crown Court found him guilty of attempted rape and sexual assault by penetration.
During the trial, the court heard that a woman went out with work colleagues to a Southampton bar.
At around 3.30am, she got a taxi back to her flat where she went to sleep.
Sometime between 4am and 5am, the woman awoke to a man lying behind her, sexually assaulting her. The court heard that the woman froze in fear before the man then attempted to rape her.
She managed to shout and push the man away to get him off her before he left the room. The woman then reported the incident to the police.
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On 18 December 2020, Mr Badawi was convicted of the attempted rape and sexual assault by penetration by a jury at Southampton Crown Court.
He was found not guilty of rape.
On Thursday (January 21) he appeared at Southampton Crown Court for sentencing where he was jailed for 13 years.
Detective Constable Sue Hampton from Operation Amberstone commended the victim for having the courage to come forward.
She said: "Badawi is an opportunist and a danger to women and I would like to commend the victim for her courage in disclosing what happened that night and for giving evidence in court so that he could be brought to justice.
"I welcome today’s sentence and hope that it brings some closure to the victim and allows her to move on in her life.
"I also hope it encourages other victims of rape and serious sexual offences to come forward and report what happened.
"In cases such as these, we work in partnership with Independent Sexual Violence Advocate Services to ensure adequate support is available victims throughout investigations.
"We hope that the strength of this partnership working alongside convictions like this, encourage victims to come forward and report their experiences to us."