Man drank 30 beers before raping woman in her Milton Keynes home

Brendon Garrett admitted one count of rape, changing his plea after forensic evidence was put to him before the start of a trial.

A judge heard that he drank “an incomprehensible amount” including spirits, at the birthday party before the rape.

The attack had such a severe affect on his victim that she has not been able to return to her home since.

The court heard how Garrett accompanied the 25-year-old victim to her home where the sexual attack happened, following his heavy drinking session.

Judge Maria Lamb was told that police were called to the property in the early hours of October 2, following the rape.

The woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was found by officers sobbing outside on her front doorstep at about 2.30am.

When they went upstairs to arrest her attacker who was still in the house, he told them: “If I get out of this I’ll never drink again.”

Prosecutor John Livingston told the judge sitting at Aylesbury Crown Court that Garrett had drunk “30 beers together with spirits” through the course of the night but his victim had also been heavily under the influence of alcohol.

“She had been sick before she went to bed and then again shortly afterwards,” he said.

“She remembers nothing more until a short-time before the phone call was made to police.

“When she woke up she was naked except for her bra, which was undone. The defendant was in bed next to her and it was obvious to her that he had had sex with her,” said the prosecuter.

Mr Livingston also summarised a victim impact statement which he read to the court, saying: “Since then she has been unable to return to the scene of the incident and has been living with her mother.

“She has lost two stone in weight. She has gone back to work because she needs the money but she does less hours than she used to and she has been moved to a position where she doesn’t have to deal with the public.”

Garrett, who appeared in court via videolink from HMP Woodhill and was dressed in a grey tracksuit and sat with his arms crossed throughout, had gone to the woman’s home in Milton Keynes.

When police found him he was face-down on the victim’s bed, fully-dressed but with his trousers loose.

Defending, Stefan Weidmann told the court his client had drunk an “incomprehensible” amount of alcohol and he was willing to accept this punishment.

“The victim impact statement is quite frankly distressing,” he said.

“He knows he is going to prison for a long time and he is dealing with that day by day.”

He continued: “He’s going to have one of the most stigmatic offences attached to his name for life.”

Sentencing, Judge Lamb told Garrett: “Whether it was a case of you taking advantage of her drunken state or whether it’s a case of you being under the influence of a significant amount of alcohol that having that, you acted without the self-control you should have done, matters not.

“Each of these, in my opinion, is a factor.

“You got into her bed in her home and you had sex with her. Your comment to the police officer that arrested you suggests to me you had an inkling that you had done something wrong that night.”

She continued: “The situation is aggravated by the fact that, as heard in her victim witness statement, she has not been able to set foot in her home since. It has affected pretty much every aspect of her life.

“It has impacted upon her relationships with her family, it’s impacted upon her family and it’s impacted upon the state of her work life.

“I would say you cannot over estimate the impact of what you did to her that night.”

Garrett, of Douglas Place, Oldbrook, Milton Keynes was sentenced to six and a half years’ imprisonsment and ordered to sign onto the Sex Offenders’ Register indefinitely.