A bricklayer has been jailed for seven years for raping a drunk teenage woman and snorting cocaine off her body, with video footage of the ordeal later circulated on messaging apps.
Caeran Evans, 27, from Heol Cadifor, Penlan, Swansea, was sentenced at Swansea Crown Court after being found guilty of rape at trial. He had earlier pleaded guilty to sexual assault in relation to the same complainant.
Attack details
The court was told the incident took place in October 2024 at a property in Swansea after Evans, the complainant, and several others met during a night out and shared a taxi home. The woman was oblivious to the abuse until she woke up the next morning, discovering her underwear had been removed and she felt "different" in a private area.
She later became aware of video recordings showing vulgar messages written on her body and cocaine being snorted off her. The court heard it remains unclear who wrote the messages on the teenager's skin.
Defence and sentencing
David Leathley, representing Evans, argued the case was not one where "a man in total sobriety had preyed upon an intoxicated woman" but rather there was "an equality of arms" in terms of intoxication, adding "they were both out of it". He mentioned witnessing his client "weeping pitilessly" after the jury's verdict and highlighted the impact of the inevitable prison sentence on those close to him.
The barrister revealed the defendant had written a letter to the court detailing his "positive upbringing" by "loving parents" but how, after a relationship breakdown and loss of contact with his son, he had turned to cannabis and then cocaine. Evans admitted he allowed himself "to be drawn into a lifestyle and environment I should never have been part of" and said: "This is not the person I want to be."
Judge Catherine Richards noted the jury had dismissed Evans's claim that the sex was consensual. She acknowledged both parties were under the influence but said their levels of intoxication differed significantly, highlighting that the key difference was that Evans was inflicting harm on the complainant.
Police response
Evans received a seven-year prison sentence, will be a registered sex offender for life, and was subjected to a 15-year restraining order prohibiting him from contacting his victim or posting about her on social media. The judge clarified the order also covers situations where the defendant could be argued to be inciting others to post comments online.
Following sentencing, South Wales Police detective inspector Meirian Evans said: "Caeran Evans took advantage of his intoxicated victim in a heinous and calculated way. That he knew he was being filmed and still carried on for some kind of perverse self-gratification only makes the situation unimaginably more abhorrent."
He added: "Thankfully, the court saw through his protestations and the guilty verdict and seven-year sentence shows that justice has been achieved for the victim. We commend her on her bravery in coming forward to report what Caeran Evans did to her, and hope that she can now begin to move on with her life."
