Newport man jailed for nine years for rape and intimidation

A Newport man who raped a woman while she slept has been handed a nine-year prison sentence following his conviction at trial.

Anthony Bowyer, 38, from Treberth Avenue, was found guilty by a jury of sexually assaulting the victim on 2nd January last year. The amphetamine user was also convicted of witness intimidation after attempting to pressure her into dropping the case.

Victim’s powerful statement

During sentencing at Cardiff Crown Court, the woman’s harrowing victim impact statement was read out. She described feeling “shame” when attending a sexual assault referral centre after the attack.

“I thought my heart was going to stop,” she told the court. “When I left, tears were rolling down my face. I felt broken in every possible way. He took my dignity. I can’t let this destroy me.”

Defendant’s criminal history

The court heard Bowyer has 37 previous convictions covering 81 offences, though none for sexual crimes. He does have a caution for indecent assault from when he was 19, after slapping a police community support officer’s bottom.

His barrister, Julia Cox, told the court: “He’s deeply embarrassed and ashamed. There is a prospect of rehabilitation in this case.” She added mitigation about his background: “There was a lack of a father figure in his life from the age of six and that was only rekindled a few months before his father passed away in 2005.”

The sentence 📋

Recorder Paul Hartley-Davies told Bowyer: “Your victim has been left very distressed as a result of this incident.”

He imposed eight years for rape and a consecutive 12-month term for witness intimidation, totalling nine years. Bowyer will serve two-thirds of this sentence in custody before being released on licence after six years.

He must register as a sex offender for life and is subject to a 10-year restraining order preventing any contact with the victim. He was also ordered to pay a £228 victim surcharge.