Gary Conibear 33

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A Tidworth man has been jailed for seven and a half years after being found guilty of rape.

Following a trial at Winchester Crown Court in July, Gary Conibear, 33, from Tidworth was found guilty of raping a woman following a night out.

The court heard how Conibear had met up with a woman on a night out with friends in Tidworth in June 2022, where they played pool and drank together.

He later offered to walk her home and they both fell asleep, fully clothed on her bed.

She later awoke to find him raping her.

On Monday (06/10) Judge Rufus Taylor sentenced Conibear to 90 months prison and imposed an indefinite restraining order preventing him from having direct or indirect contact with the survivor.

In a powerful and moving personal statement, read to the court, the survivor said:

“No words will ever truly capture how these last three years have broken, changed, and reshaped me. But I will try, because I need you to understand what was taken from me, what I’ve survived, and what I still carry every single day.

“When this happened to me, I didn’t just feel hurt, I felt ashamed. I blamed myself. I asked over and over, What did I do wrong? Why me? What haunts me the most, is how he did it without a flicker of remorse.

“The assault didn’t just happen in a moment. It echoed. It infected every part of my life.

I stopped leaving my house. For 18 months, I was locked away from the world, gripped by fear, shame, and agoraphobia. I stopped seeing my friends. I stopped seeing my family. I stopped seeing me.

“I was exhausted by the weight of what had been done to me. I was living in a constant loop of fear, shame, and despair. 

“There is no justice that can erase what happened. There is no sentence long enough that can give me back the years I’ve lost, the nights I’ve cried, the peace that was stolen from me.

“But I’m here. I am still standing, scarred, yes, but not silenced.

“All I ask is this: please see the pain. Please feel the weight of what I’ve been through. Because I carry it every single day in my mind, in my body, and in the way I now live my life.”

The lead officer in this case, Detective Constable Sue Ellway said:

“I would like to recognise the courage of the survivor in this case, who has had to endure an unimaginable personal struggle in the wake of this ordeal.

“Despite this, she has managed to find the strength to work with us to help bring this offender to justice - having to go through two trials, after the first resulted in a hung jury.

“I would also like to recognise the support given to the survivor by Horizon victim and witness care who were there for her every step of the way.

“Conibear will now be deprived of liberty for a substantial period - I hope that he reflects upon his selfish and despicable actions and the harm he has caused.”