Locations
Honister Place, Newton Aycliffe, Durham, DL5
Description
A Newton Aycliffe man has been jailed for 12 years after raping and sexually assaulting a woman while she slept, then begging her not to tell police.
Teesside Crown Court heard that officers attended a property following an anonymous report but received no immediate response. The woman later told them that Aaron Waldron, 29, of Honister Place, had raped her as she slept, sexually assaulted her, and hidden her phone so she could not call for help. The court was told he begged her not to disclose what he had done.
Waldron denied rape, sexual assault and assault causing actual bodily harm, claiming any sexual activity was consensual and that the woman was not asleep. He stood trial from 29 June to 3 July and was convicted of all three counts.
He appeared by video link from Holme House Prison for sentencing on 2 October, after probation reports were prepared. A victim statement described the “devastating impact” of the offences on her physical and mental health.
Waldron has no previous sexual convictions but has a past conviction for violence. Recorder Andrew Sutcliffe KC said aggravating factors included that Waldron was under the influence of alcohol, that he tried to persuade the victim not to report the offences, and the added degradation and humiliation she suffered. The Recorder said Waldron poses a danger to women, but decided an extended sentence was not required.
He imposed a 12-year prison term. Waldron must serve two-thirds before release on licence. He was also placed on the sex offenders’ register indefinitely.
An indefinite restraining order bans him from contacting or approaching the victim, or going to any address where he knows she may be.