6 days Ago By [email protected] (Mark Naylor)
A brazen sexual predator deliberately molested a sleeping woman and shamelessly took advantage of her in a "targeted attack" after she had been enjoying a "girls night out". The horrified woman suddenly woke up in shock to discover what was going on and she started screaming. She told him to get off her and she had been left "extremely badly psychologically affected" by her ordeal, Hull Crown Court heard.
David Norman, 35, of North Frodingham, near Driffield , admitted sexually assaulting the woman in Bridlington in 2019. He denied an offence of assault by penetration and that charge was dropped by the prosecution. Recorder Alistair MacDonald KC said that the woman had been on a "girls night out".
Norman had been drinking and he later encountered the woman and started "acting really weirdly". He claimed that there was "sexual banter" and "contact" between them and that she was "flirting" with him but this was not the case and the court heard he later tried to engage in "victim blaming". The woman later fell asleep in a reclining chair but she woke up to find Norman's head between her legs.
He had taken off her underwear while she was sleeping. "She started screaming," said Recorder MacDonald. "What you were doing made her feel sick.
" The woman told Norman: "Get off." Norman disappeared from the scene and the police were alerted. He was arrested.
He told police that there had been sexual contact but he claimed that it was consensual. "She was extremely badly psychologically affected," said Recorder MacDonald. "She has, as a result of your actions, effectively lost trust in people.
It has had knock-on effects on the whole of her life." Ben Hammersley, mitigating, said that there had been no further contact whatsoever between Norman and the woman. Norman pleaded guilty on the day of a scheduled trial.
"He does wish to say that he is sorry for the harm and distress to the victim in this case," said Mr Hammersley. "Plainly, this victim was vulnerable in the circumstances. In effect, it was an opportunist offence.
"He apologises for what is horrific behaviour. This is a very serious offence. He has just recently lost his job.
" Norman had previous convictions but nothing of a similar nature. Recorder MacDonald said that, during police interview and a pre-sentence report, Norman did not accept his guilt. "He was attempting to suggest that the victim in this case was the instigator of the conduct," said Recorder MacDonald.
"It's not just that he didn't show any sign of sorrow. Even after he pleaded guilty, he was still trying to blame the complainant for what was going on. There are some words that can't be unsaid.
It's victim blaming. It's a targeted attack on a vulnerable victim." Get all the latest crime and court news in Hull straight to your mobile via WhatsApp by clicking here .
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Recorder MacDonald told Norman: "I completely reject your expressions of sorrow and I completely reject your apologies." If they were genuine, Norman would "not have toughed it out until the day of trial" as he had done. "Not only is there no remorse, it seems to me that you have continued to cast blame on the complainant in this case even when that's completely and utterly unmerited," said Recorder MacDonald.
"You took advantage of the situation. You did that knowing that she had had a good night out and knowing that she was asleep." Norman, who had been on bail, was jailed for two years and eight months.
He will have to register as a sex offender indefinitely. Recorder MacDonald said that it was "completely impossible to suspend" any prison sentence on Norman and there was "no possibility whatsoever" of doing that. "The seriousness of the offending permits no other course than a sentence of immediate imprisonment," said Recorder MacDonald.
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