Locations
Pentregethin Road, Cwmbwrla, Swansea, SA5
Description
A man pushed his way into a woman's caravan in the early hours of the morning and sexually assaulted her, a court has heard. James Birmingham pushed and threw the woman around the static home "like a rag doll" before carrying out a sex act on her.
Swansea Crown Court heard details of a statement from the woman in which she described the devastating emotional and psychological impact of the attack. She also described the "indignity'" of having to give evidence at her trial in front of strangers and of having her integrity challenged in court.
The court heard the assault happened in November last year at a caravan park on Gower. In the early hours of the morning the defendant knocked on the door of the victim's caravan and the woman, thinking there was some kind of problem on the site, got out of bed to see what was going on. The court heard the woman then tried to close the door on Birmingham, 47, but he pushed his way inside. During the course of the subsequent assault the defendant threw and pushed the woman around the caravan before sexually assaulting her.
In an impact statement read to the court the woman said he replays the attack over and over again in her head and said she cannot help but wonder whether it was somehow her fault. She said there is not a part of her which does not believe Birmingham was trying to rape her that night, and she said she now sees herself as a victim of a sexual assault and she feels she will never be the person she used to be. She said the Gower incident had "devastated" her life. The woman also described the "indignity" of having to go through a trial and relive the attack in front of strangers and of having her integrity challenged.
James Birmingham, of Pentregethin Road, Cwmbwrla, Swansea, had previously been convicted at trial of assault occasioning actual bodily harm and sexual assault when he returned to the dock for sentencing. He has previous convictions for motoring matters.
Hilary Roberts, for Birmingham, said "thoughtful and constructive" references before the court showed the defendant was well-regarded by people who knew him and showed he was not somebody who usually behaved in the way he had done on the night in question. He said a sentence of immediate custody would be "catastrophic" for the defendant, for his teenage son, and for his employment and he invited the court to consider suspending the custodial sentence that was due.
Judge Geraint Walters said after gaining entry to the caravan Birmingham had used "pretty relentless violence" and had thrown the woman around the caravan "like a rag doll" before sexually assaulting her. He said he had no doubt alcohol had played its part in the "hugely unpleasant" offending. Birmingham was sentenced to three years in prison and will serve up to half that period in custody before being released on licence to serve the remainder in the community. The defendant will be a registered sex offender for the rest of his life.