Locations
Hertford Place, Ramsgate, Kent, CT11
Description
A “dangerous” man who subjected a woman to a degrading and humiliating sexual assault has been jailed for 15 years.
Leon Walmsley carried out the attack within just a few months of his release from prison in August 2022, with a judge telling the 25-year-old he was “disturbed” by the escalation in his offending.
His victim suffered multiple bruises to her head and body, as well as severe psychological harm, Canterbury Crown Court was told.
Walmsley, of Hertford Place, Ramsgate, admitted a charge of assault causing actual bodily harm but denied assault by penetration, only to be convicted by a jury.
The court heard that having struck his victim repeatedly with an item, causing it to break, he then used it to sexually assault her.
At his sentencing hearing on April 5, a victim impact statement described how the woman had been left "terrified and paranoid" by her ordeal.
Jailing Walmsley, Recorder David Elvin KC told him he was considered a "dangerous" offender in law and would have to serve at least two-thirds of his prison term before being considered for release.
Once freed, he will then have a further three years added to any licence period.
Recorder Elvin said Walmsley, who had been offending since he was 18 and twice recalled to prison while on licence for a previous conviction, had not only shown an "inability and unwillingness to learn from his past" but also demonstrated "a failure to realise he has serious issues".
Recorder Elvin's observations of how Walmsley had presented himself at trial and to the author of his pre-sentence report were just as scathing.
Describing him as "deceitful" and a significant risk to the public, he said: "At the end of the interview you asked the author whether you had 'said the right things', suggesting your account may not have reflected your true feelings but what you believed would create a good impression.
"You gave evidence in a very calm, very controlled and very polite manner, seeking to gain favour with the jury."
On his release from prison, Walmsley will be subject to indefinite sex offender notification requirements.