DANIEL TONKS SENTENCED TO 10 YEARS IN GLOUCESTER FOR RAPE OF GIRL UNDER 13

In December 2011, Daniel Tonks, a 24-year-old man from Penhill Road, Matson, was sentenced to 10 years in prison after being convicted of raping a girl under the age of 13. The jury found him guilty of one count of rape, while acquitting him of another, in a case that drew significant attention.

During the hearing at Gloucester Crown Court, Tonks, who had denied any sexual contact with the victim, reacted emotionally to the verdict. He slumped into his seat, sobbing, and took off his spectacles, leaning forward with his hand to his face for the remainder of the hearing. He did not look up when Judge William Hart announced the sentence. As he was led away to the cells, Tonks looked up at the public gallery and declared, “I haven’t done anything.” In response, a woman from the gallery shouted, “Daniel, I love you – don’t worry.”

The incidents occurred on September 18 of the previous year, during which the girl, who had no previous sexual experience and was a virgin, was injured by Tonks during the assault. The court heard that the girl described how Tonks lay on his bed, invited her to sit, then grabbed her and subjected her to a rape ordeal. The judge noted that she was a “somewhat precocious girl” and had not experienced any sexual activity prior to the incident.

The girl sustained internal injuries, including two lacerations, described as a frightening and painful experience. Judge Hart emphasized, “She was a somewhat precocious girl. She'd had no sexual experience of any kind at the time you did what you did in September last year. The ordeal to which you subjected her was a frightening and painful one. She suffered internal injuries with two lacerations.”

Apart from the prison sentence, Tonks was placed on the sex offenders register for life, barred from working with children indefinitely, and a sexual offences prevention order was imposed against him. During evidence, Tonks claimed he was fully clothed at the time and that the girl was in his bedroom only for two or three minutes before they left, asserting he had not touched her sexually. He also stated that his father was in the house at the time and would have heard her scream.

Prior to the incident, Tonks had worked in a warehouse in Gloucester. His employment history included roles as a tyre fitter, building worker, and removals man. He had two previous convictions: one for racially-aggravated threatening behaviour and another for wounding.