Locations
Edward Paxman Gardens, Colchester, Essex, CO1
Description
A RAPE victim has spoken out after her attacker was convicted of rape by a crown court judge.
The woman, whose identity is protected, explained how she awoke suddenly to find Shaun Western raping her.
The victim had been on a night out with friends in Colchester in September 2018 and returned to her flat at the end of the night, but when she woke up to find she was being raped by Western, 24, who fled the flat when he had been discovered.
In a police interview, Western claimed the sex was consensual but the jury at Chelmsford Crown Court did not believe him and on Tuesday he was sentenced to six years and six months imprisonment.
In a statement read to the court, the victim said the attack had impacted hugely on “every aspect” of her life.
She said: “Since this happened, I started to suffer from night terrors.
“I never used to have issues sleeping, now when I have a night terror I start to drift off to sleep, I will jolt awake with the memory of him on top of me.
“It would make me feel breathless and panicky.”
The victim also said she has since been diagnosed with depression, anxiety and obsessive compulsive disorder, with her ability to work also majorly affected.
Officer in the case Detective Sergeant Danielle Markoutsis praised the victim for her courage.
He said: “[The victim’s strength character throughout this process has been an inspiration.
“While delays in bringing this case to trial were outside of our control, the verdict and sentence serve as a stark reminder of our clear determination to bring sex offenders to justice.
“The early advice process we have in place [with the Crown Prosecution Service] seeks to involve a lawyer in the very early stages of an investigation to agree a joint action plan with the officer in charge.
“This is helping to improve the timeliness of our investigations, leading to more solved outcomes and has now been recognised by the college of policing, which has included this as evidence of good practice for other forces to follow.”
Western will be subject to an indefinite restraining order and will remain on the sex offender's register for life.