Ian Lucas, 38, of Garron Street, Seaham, County Durham, has been sentenced to eight years in prison at Newcastle Crown Court for sexually assaulting a woman and attempting to rape her. He denied the offences but was found guilty by a jury.
The court heard that Lucas touched the woman, who told him to stop, before attempting to rape her. The attempted rape was not completed due to incapacity rather than a decision to stop.
Victim impact and threats
Lucas later told the victim not to tell anyone about what happened and to delete the messages. He told her he had got the wrong impression and to keep it between them.
In a victim impact statement read to the court, the woman said she suffered from nightmares and flashbacks about what happened. She said she has baths to sanitise herself and some have been so hot that they have burnt her skin.
The woman said she had to have counselling, suffers from stress and anxiety and had made an attempt on her own life.
Defence and sentencing
Peter Sabiston, defending, told Judge Gavin Doig: "Both counts really relate to a single incident and extend the length of the incident. There's no previous convictions of relevance, no sexual convictions."
"There seems to be a degree of remorse in the pre-sentence report. He has, still, his family's support which you can see from the references." Sabiston said Lucas had suffered significant bereavement over the years and his two children would be without their father for some considerable time.
In relation to the attempted rape, Judge Doig told Lucas: "This was an attempt rather than a complete offence. However this was not an attempt because you changed your mind. It was an attempt because you were unable to carry out the complete offence."
"There's nothing that I can do today to undo the damage that you have done to her. I can, and will, impose a lengthy period of imprisonment on you."
The judge sentenced Lucas to eight years in prison and handed him a lifelong restraining order against the woman.
