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Man jailed for 11 years over rape in Perth

A man has been jailed for 11 years for the violent sexual assault of a Swedish backpacker in Perth in March last year.

A man has been jailed for 11 years for the violent rape of a Swedish backpacker as she slept inside his rented campervan outside a Perth hostel.

The 24-year-old backpacker did not even know she had been raped until she was medically examined and Ivan James Williams' DNA was found on her.

The Perth District Court heard on Friday that the pair had been drinking in March last year when Williams offered her his van, while he was supposed to sleep on a couch at the hostel.

But the woman woke to find Williams holding a shard of glass against her neck and threatening to cut her throat.

"You were pinning her down with one arm across her throat and in an angry voice you said to her, `Don't scream'," Judge Patrick O'Neal said in sentencing.

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"Despite that, she tried to, although it was difficult because it was hard to breathe."

The woman struggled and managed to flee inside the hostel bleeding, "half naked and hysterical", saying someone she thought was her friend had tried to rape her.

Judge O'Neal said Williams' crime had scarred the woman physically and mentally after learning she had indeed been sexually assaulted.

"Her reaction was predictably one of great distress. She fell to the ground crying and screaming," he said.

The court heard Williams had also been on bail for alleged sex offences in South Australia at the time.

Judge O'Neal said Williams had preyed upon a vulnerable victim who had too much to drink and had only decided to sleep in his van believing she was safe.

He noted Williams had pleaded guilty but only after the woman had testified.

The judge also noted Williams was at high risk of re-offending and questioned the level of his remorse.

Williams was sentenced to 11 years behind bars for two counts of aggravated rape and one count each of attempted aggravated rape, threats to injure and assault causing bodily harm.

He will be eligible for parole after serving nine years.


2 min read

Published

Updated

Source: AAP


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