Cardiff Crown Court (Image: Wales Updates)
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A man who was told he would probably be deported after being jailed for attempting to rape an unconscious woman has been found guilty of raping another woman in Newport.
The verdict
Radiet Meles, 35, of West Park Road, Newport, was convicted of rape and assault by beating following a five-day trial at Cardiff Crown Court. The jury’s verdicts were unanimous.
The attack took place in Newport in March. Meles had denied both charges.
Recorder Andrew Hammond warned him to expect a “lengthy custodial” sentence when he returns to court on November 20.
The 2019 case
The conviction comes seven years after Meles stood trial over an attack at a house party in Newport, when he was cleared of rape but found guilty of attempted rape.
That case centred on the night of Monday, August 13, 2018. Heath Edwards, prosecuting, told the jury: “During Monday, August 13, 2018, the complainant went into Newport city centre drinking.”
The woman and others later went back to a house where a party was being held.
Mr Edwards said: “The complainant herself has little clear recollection of the events or the chronology at this time as she was heavily intoxicated.
“The next memory she has of the events that night is of her being awoken in the back of an ambulance by a police officer and being told that the defendant had been having sex with her.
“That was not something that she had consented to – she was far too drunk for that.”
Meles, who denied having any sexual contact with her, was sentenced to five years in prison.
The deportation warning
Passing sentence, Judge Christopher Vosper KC told him: “After your release, it is likely you will be held in an immigration detention centre.
“As a consequence of this offence and sentence, the home secretary is likely to make a deportation order in your case.”
His account of arriving in the UK
Meles gave his evidence in that trial through a Tigrinya interpreter. Questioned by his barrister Eugene Egan, he described himself as a soldier born in Eritrea who reached Britain “in a lorry” in 2015, crossing from France through the Channel Tunnel.
He said he was held at Dover for two days before being released, first going to Cardiff and then settling in Newport. He told the jury he had worked at a food packaging factory in the city, and had earlier had jobs with Amazon and as a car washer.
In mitigation, Mr Egan said: “The defendant has little or next to little English and is far away from home.
“Prison will be a burdensome experience for him.”
