RAPIST PAID MAN TO HAVE SEX WITH WOMAN IN HOTEL ROOM BEFORE HORRIFIC ATTACK
A bench warrant has been issued for the arrest of David Morrison, who failed to appear in court on Friday, 24 October, to hear his sentence.Once apprehended, the 44 year old will face a 10-year prison term after being found guilty of rape and sexual assault by penetration in August.
Teesside Crown Court heard that Morrison was in a hotel room with the victim when he left early in the morning to fetch some wine, according to TeessideLive.
The woman, unaware of Morrison's intentions, had never seen the man before and told him not to touch her.
The man informed her that Morrison had paid him to sleep with her to fulfil his own fantasy.
Morrison told her: "You're making a mountain out of a mole hill." He also told the man he might as well leave as she's "not going to do it".
The court heard that after the man left, the woman told Morrison not to touch or approach her, but he ignored her and raped her.
The victim, who cannot be identified due to legal reasons, read her impact statement in court: "What you did is not just a thing that happened in the past but I carry it with me every single day...
it has slowly killed part of me every day since.
"You have turned my home into a prison, my body into something I feared and my mind into a battlefield." She expressed how she was pushed to the "point of despair where I was ready to end my own life....
Every day I wake up and fight for the truth knowing he has not won.
I am still here and I am still breathing." Morrison, an engineer by profession, returned later with another man.
Summarising the case during the sentencing hearing, Recorder Paul Reid, who presided over the trial, said: "You (Morrison) started laughing and said 'I have got a present for you'.
You said: 'Do what you want to her, I'm going for a (cigarette) and some wine." The woman, unaware of Morrison's intentions, had never seen the man before and told him not to touch her.
The man informed her that Morrison had paid him to sleep with her to fulfil his own fantasy.
Morrison told her: "You're making a mountain out of a mole hill." He also told the man he might as well leave as she's "not going to do it".
The court heard that after the man left, the woman told Morrison not to touch or approach her, but he ignored her and raped her.
The jury convicted him of sexual assault by penetration two months ago.
The victim, who cannot be identified due to legal reasons, read her impact statement in court: "What you did is not just a thing that happened in the past but I carry it with me every single day...
it has slowly killed part of me every day since.
"You have turned my home into a prison, my body into something I feared and my mind into a battlefield." Morrison has been sentenced to 10 years behind bars after being convicted of rape and sexual assault.
A bench warrant was issued for his arrest after he failed to attend a previous hearing earlier this month.
Recorder Reid stated: "I gave you an opportunity to settle your affairs pending your sentencing hearing.
Instead of doing that you have absented yourself.
You have prolonged the agony experienced by the complainant." Morrison has been slapped with an indefinite restraining order, barring him from contacting the woman.
Upon his arrest, he will also be required to sign the sex offenders register.
