Locations
Sherwood Avenue, Rhyl, Wales, LL18
Description
A rapist wept in court as a judge jailed him for raping a woman as she slept at a Travelodge hotel. James Cox subjected his victim to the 'horrible' attack the morning after he had binged on alcohol and cocaine.
Police attended his room to find him bloodied, having self-harmed with a shard of glass. A judge told him that he will have to "live with the shame for the rest of his life".
Liverpool Crown Court heard yesterday afternoon, Tuesday March 11, that Cox was staying at a Travelodge hotel in the city at the time of the incident and had spent the night drinking. The following morning, another guest woke up at around 7am to find the 29-year-old, of Sherwood Avenue in Rhyl, North Wales, kissing her neck and raping her, having removed her pyjama bottoms while she was sleeping.
Gareth Roberts, prosecuting, described how officers then attended his room after the incident was reported to Merseyside Police but received no answer. When the door was unlocked by a member staff, PCs found Cox with a "deep laceration" to his wrist and holding a piece of glass.
The defendant was then taken to hospital in order to receive treatment for this injury. His criminal record shows entries for drunk and disorderly behaviour, resisting arrest, a public order offence and possession of cannabis.
Callum Ross, defending, told the court: "This is a defendant who knows and understands the seriousness of what he has done. To put it bluntly, he has to live with that for the rest of his life and he will.
"He has a positive working history. He clearly has issues with drug use. The defendant has been very candid about his cocaine addiction. He tells me that he feels better already as a result of his remand and being abstinent from drugs. That is perhaps a positive of custody and will assist in his rehabilitation in due course."
Cox admitted one count of rape. Appearing via video link to HMP Liverpool wearing a grey Under Armour tracksuit top, he was seen wiping tears away as he was jailed for five years and three months.
He will be required to serve two thirds of this term behind bars before becoming eligible for release. Sentencing, Judge Neil Flewitt KC told him that the "horror of what he did no doubt had a profound and lasting effect" and added: "You had a relatively long standing addiction to cocaine, which was compounded by your use of alcohol. It may be that that explains what happened that night.
"This was a horrible offence. You have been in trouble with the police before, but not for anything on this scale. It is said that you will have to live for the rest of your life with the shame of what you have done, and I accept that.
"It may well be that drink and drugs have a large part to play in what happened. That was largely self induced. It was your choice to abuse alcohol and drugs, and so you have to take the consequences of your behaviour when you were under their influence."