Hartlepool man jailed for sexually assaults on woman

HARTLEPOOL MAN JAILED FOR SEXUALLY ASSAULTS ON WOMAN

A man who carried out a series of sexual assaults on a woman he met on a night out has been jailed.

The 38-year-old curled up with the woman on her bed before carrying out a sexual assault on her, Matthew Bean, prosecuting, said.

Townend bit the woman’s lip before carrying out a further two sex assaults on his victim.

Mr Bean said the young victim was left traumatised by the assaults carried out by Townend while she repeatedly said ‘no’ to his unwanted advances.

In a victim impact statement, she said she had struggled to sleep in her own home after the assaults and suffered from anxiety as a result.

She added: “I was left with no choice but to move house and at that point my life had been turned upside down.” Townend, of Tiverton Grove, Hartlepool, was found guilty of three charges of assault by penetration and a further charge of assault occasioning actual bodily harm following a trial at Teesside Crown Court.

Stephen Constantine, mitigating, said his client still struggled to come to terms with what he had been convicted of doing and ‘found it impossible to accept he was capable of doing such a thing’.

Judge Timothy Stead sentenced the ‘physically’ imposing defendant to seven years and six months in custody for all offences.

He said: “There is no question that either party having any kind of relationship.

There’s no suggestion that she did anything at all to encourage what you did or indeed that she desired any kind of relationship with you.” Townend was made subject of an indefinite restraining order and was ordered to sign on the sex offenders’ register for life.