Locations
Bridge Street, Aberystwyth, Ceredigion, SY23
Description
A father-of-three gave a teenage girl drugs before sexually assaulting her in his car, a court heard. Gareth Edwards stopped the girl from answering her phone during the ordeal and told her to lie about what happened and not to tell the police.
Swansea Crown Court heard that Edwards gave his young victim cocaine and twice sexually assaulted her in his car in Aberystwyth in May last year. The 36-year-old denied the allegations but was convicted at trial after the incident was reported to police, who located and arrested him following a public appeal.
In a victim statement read by prosecutor Helen Randall, the teenager said the assault had changed who she is, shifting her from a "bubbly person with lots of friends" who enjoyed socializing to being "withdrawn" and more isolated. She said Edwards had given her cocaine to take advantage of her and "he knows what he did that night." She added that testifying at trial was stressful and she nearly backed out, but did it "to keep other girls safe."
Edwards, of Bridge Street, Aberystwyth, was convicted of sexual assault and assault by penetration. He has 24 previous convictions for 27 offences, the last for malicious communications in December 2023, for which he received a community order he breached five times.
Defense barrister Darren Almeida said Edwards maintains his innocence, noting the complainant had consumed multiple substances that night with no evidence he pressured her into taking cocaine, and asked the court not to find it facilitated the offending. He added that the father-of-three had been a Welsh language mentor with a trusted job in prison and just wants to "keep his head down" in custody.
Judge Huw Rees told Edwards the complainant was intoxicated, vulnerable, and two decades his junior when she entered his car. "You took advantage of the situation. You took advantage of her for what she was or what you perceived her to be," the judge said.
Edwards was sentenced to five years in prison, to serve half in custody before release on licence. He will be a registered sex offender for life.