According to the court documents, when authorities told the defendant just what he might have contracted from the woman he ra-ed, the rapist coIIapsed. According to an unnamed woman, the 27-year-old man, Richard, let himself into her home uninvited in the middle of the night, and she awoke to find him raping her. Although he had no recollection of the assault, he knew the woman who had accused him of attacking her, and he said she “would not lie.” “She tells the truth. If she says I have done it, I have done it,” Thomas said when he was told about the attack, according to his lawyer Virginia.
There was another reason Richard couldn’t seem to remember the incident but believed he had done it. The night in question, he had not only drunk alcohol in excess but had also consumed drugs as well. “He was arrested and interviewed and said he had been drinking heavily, taken cocaine and ecstasy, and could not recall the incident,” Harry with the prosecution team explained. Before waking up to the rape, Richard’s victim had taken a sleeping tablet, according to BBC, which might explain her reaction upon waking during the assault. “She froze and no words were exchanged. He pulled up his shorts and left,” Virginia said. The court also heard that the woman was ill, but Richard apparently didn’t know to what extent. When police informed him of the woman’s medical status, he collapsed. His victim was HIV positive, which meant the rapist might have contracted the deadly, incurable virus as a direct result of the se* attack he carried out on the woman. Upon hearing the news, a shocked Thomas asked to be taken to the hospital, the court heard.
Although Richard had previous convictions, none were for se-ual offenses. According to Virginia, he was “remorseful” and “cannot understand why he did it and it is troubling him.” However, it would seem that — should his version of events be believed — drugs and aIcohol were a huge contributing factor, and the abuse of both wasn’t a new problem for Richard. Instead, “he started using cannabis at the age of nine, drinking heavily at the age of 11, became addicted to ecstasy and cocaine at 13, and was put in care the following year,” Virginia revealed. Even so, she seemed to have little sympathy for Richard and any fears he had over contracting HIV. “It is his own fault, if he had not committed this offense he would not have placed himself in this position,” Virginia said.
Richard pleaded guilty to raping the woman and was sentenced to five years and four months by Judge Mark, who said that Richard had committed “this dreadful offense” while his victim lay asleep in her own home after taking a sleeping tablet, leaving her distressed and anxious. Thomas was also ordered to “sign the Se* Offenders’ Register for life,” according to Daily Mail. In addition to receiving jail time and facing the possibility of contracting the deadly virus, Richard faced other consequences for his action. It was reported that he had been “trying to contact his family” but they wanted “nothing to do with him.” Being sentenced to jail, he would also be away from his partner, their young daughter, and his two other older daughters from previous relationships.
