Locations
Abertillery, Blaenau Gwent, NP13
Description
A “DANGEROUS predator” recorded himself as he sexually assaulted a woman in her own bedroom.
Anurag Sharma, 21, from Abertillery, was found guilty of rape, assault by penetration and sexual assault of his victim by a jury following a trial.
After he attacked her, the defendant fled to France in the back of a lorry when he was on bail.
He was arrested at Dover when he tried to return to the UK undetected, Cardiff Crown Court was told.
In a moving victim impact statement, the woman said that Sharma was a “dangerous predator” and described her ordeal as “horrific”.
She told him: “You no longer have power over me and I'm not your victim. I have survived.”
The offences happened last summer.
Matthew Cobbe, prosecuting, said: “The victim was vulnerable and there was a degree of planning on the defendant’s part to achieve his offending.”
Dale Beeson representing Sharma asked the judge to show his client “mercy”.
His barrister said the defendant had arrived to live in the UK from India and was the son of a heart surgeon.
“This is a young man who has no previous offences and he comes from a good family background and had a good education,” Mr Beeson stated.
“He had been dating a girl for quite some time. He was very much in love with her and thought his future was going to be with her.
“Unfortunately, that lady moved to Canada for her education.”
Mr Beeson added: “Mr Sharma has ruined his life. He’s relatively resigned to that fact that he's lost his good character.
“He's going to lose his liberty, he’s lost the respect of his family and brought great shame upon them.
“His actions have brought the whole deck of cards tumbling to the ground.
“He knows that deportation will follow.”
The judge, Recorder Paul Hartley-Davies, told Sharma: “You knew she was intoxicated.
"I'm also concerned to read that you're assessed as posing a high risk of harm to the public."
He jailed the defendant for nine years and told him he would serve two-thirds of that sentence in custody before being released on licence.
Sharma will have to register as a sex offender for life
After the defendant was taken to the cells, Recorder Hartley-Davies commended the woman for her courage.