Man jailed for sexual assault on stranger in her home
· BBC NewsLucy Vladev
BBC News
A man who "brutally" sexually assaulted a woman in her own home, dragging her back to the property by her hair when she tried to escape, has been jailed for 20 years.
Benjamin Guiver, from Fishguard, Pembrokeshire, entered the property in Goodwick where the woman - whose identity is protected by law - was sleeping before violently attacking her.
Swansea Crown Court heard how the victim was mercilessly and repeatedly beaten in the attack on 24 May 2024.
Guiver admitted sexual assault by penetration, assault, intentional strangulation, trespass with intent to commit a sexual offence and threats to kill.
Judge Geraint Walters said it was "hard for anybody to imagine a more brutal and terrifying attack within a person’s own home".
The court heard that the victim had fallen asleep at around 21:00 BST in her living room while watching TV and waiting for her partner to return home.
She awoke to see Guiver, who she did not know, kneeling beside her, and attempted to run from the property.
Guiver followed her, covering her mouth as she tried to scream for help, kicking her and throwing her across the drive.
He then dragged the woman back to the house by her hair before sexually assaulting her.
After she was thrown onto the bed, the woman tried to reason with him, saying she could tell he was upset but Guiver then started to strangle the female victim, telling her he was going to rape and kill her.
Guiver sexually assaulted the victim and, while she pleaded with him to let her go, repeatedly hit her head on a radiator.
The attack only stopped when her relative and partner arrived home and chased Guiver out of the house.
Prosecutor Robin Rouch said there were multiple injuries to the female victim including fractures and extensive bruising to the face and stomach.
'I am a shell'
In an impact statement read on her behalf, the victim said the attack has ruined her life as she thought she was taking her last breath.
I"I am a shell," it read.
"Constantly nervous and frightened of my own shadow."
The victim said the ongoing injuries have affected her day to day life as it is a "struggle to look in the mirror due to the injuries".
"I feel I am no longer myself," she added, saying "simple tasks like folding sheets is a struggle" and that her partner now has to help her get dressed and do her hair.
She said she can no longer sleep in the same room where the assault happened
"My whole life has been ruined by one person on one night," she added.
"I know what has happened is going to continue to haunt me for the rest of my life."
'She won’t ever completely recover'
The victim's son was also injured while trying to chase the 35-year-old out of the house, being punched and choked before the police arrived.
In his statement to the court, he explained that he arrived home to hear his mother screaming for help.
“The only thing on my mind was not to lose the male," he said, of Guiver.
He added that he still has flashbacks of the night and "can’t get the noise my mother was making out of my head".
Sentencing, Judge Geraint Walters said Guiver was laughing at his victim while strangling her while she was turning blue.
"She was right to fear that you might kill her because you’d completely lost all reason and control” as a result of the drugs and alcohol he had consumed that day.
"The chances are that she won’t ever completely recover from what you did."
Guiver was sentenced to 20 years in prison, which includes a custodial term of 15 years and an extended licence period of five years.
A restraining order to run indefinitely has also been put in place, preventing him from having any contact with the victim.
Following sentencing, DCI Matthew Briggs from Dyfed-Powys Police praised the courage of the victim, saying: “The victim in this case has shown immense courage throughout the investigation, and I commend her for that.
“Suffering such an attack in your own home is unimaginable, and – as she detailed in her statement – has impacted every aspect of her life."