NEWPORT MAN JAILED FOR RAPE AND COVERT FILMING OF WOMEN
A man identified as Ian Hennah, aged 58 from Newport, was found to have committed multiple serious offenses.He was convicted of rape after raping a woman while she was asleep and had not consented to sexual intercourse.
The police discovered a hard drive belonging to him that contained images and videos of women filmed without their knowledge, including footage of women using the toilet captured by a secret camera he had installed in a toilet.
Hennah had also taken images from underneath women's clothing, a practice known as 'upskirting', and had taken photographs of the victim's naked body and genitalia while she was asleep.
He admitted to and was convicted of rape, voyeurism, outraging public decency, and operating equipment beneath clothing without consent.
Hennah, who was of previously good character, received a sentence of 10 years imprisonment and will be subject to lifetime sex offender notification requirements, a Sexual Harm Prevention Order, and restraining orders.
During court proceedings, the victim described her experience as life-changing, stating: "This has changed my whole life...
my world has been turned upside down...
After waking up to him having sex with me, that's when my anxiety started...
It has taken years to process everything and to return to some kind of normality.
The years that followed have been the hardest of my life, I felt suicidal, spoke to the Samaritans and needed relief from pain I was going through." Other victims of voyeurism shared their distress and feelings of violation, with one stating that she rarely goes to the toilet in public anymore due to fear of hidden cameras.
The court was told that the defendant had experienced a difficult period after the death of his daughter in 2007, and in mitigation, his solicitor mentioned his regret, shame, and issues with alcohol.
The judge sentenced him to a decade in prison, life-long registration as a sex offender, and additional orders to prevent future harm.
