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| Alleged rapist, Prince Irving |
A teenager was
gang-raped on her 16th birthday after she was given a drink laced with cocaine
and awoke to find men assaulting her.
The victim attended a party in Cardiff in 2019 and was taken
advantage of by rapist, Prince Irving and others who spiked her drink with the
Class A drug which caused her to black out.
Following his
arrest Irving, 28, claimed he had never been to Cardiff but a swab taken from
the victim was found to have a positive match with his DNA. The girl, who has
lifelong anonymity, said she would remember the attack every time she
celebrated a birthday.
A sentencing hearing at Newport
Crown Court on Friday heard the defendant travelled from his
home in London with others to attend the party at a rented flat and was
described by Judge Daniel Williams as "intending to have sex".
The judge added:
"When you met [the victim] your intention, which was shared by one other,
was to have sex with her whether or not she wanted it. I am satisfied from the
evidence you well knew her age.
"You were to
an extent under the influence of drink and drugs and she was given a drink of
alcohol spiked with cocaine. The effect upon her was almost immediate and she
started blacking out. Her next memory was waking in the bedroom and being raped
by one of your group.
"Other
members of your group, when the rape was going on, came into the bedroom to
watch. You then, as [the victim] put it, swapped with the first man and you
raped her. She shouted in pain as you raped her and she told you to stop but
you wouldn't. Your response was a vile boast that she couldn't handle
you."
The court was told
that a third man was planning to rape the victim but a disturbance at the flat
prevented this from happening. As a result of the rape the girl suffered
significant bleeding.
In a victim
personal statement read out to the court by prosecutor Matthew Cobbe the victim
said the rape had limited her ability to live a normal life.
She said: "I
went out to celebrate my birthday and ended up in the middle of a nightmare.
Every year I celebrate my birthday it will be the anniversary of my
attack."
The girl also said
her GCSE exams were affected and did not believe her results were reflective of
her potential.
She added: "I
have little social life anymore and my self-confidence is very low. I feel too
anxious to go out at night and I am reluctant to leave the safety of the house
and spend my time in my bedroom... Sometimes I feel the memory of the attack is
fading a little bit but something will trigger a flashback and I am back to
square one. Nightmares are also a problem and take me back to that night.
"The incident
has left me extremely wary of men and I am not even considering forming a
relationship. It will be some time before I get that trust back again. It pains
me to see the effect on my family – it has caused stress and anguish to all
members for which I irrationally feel responsible.
"I do not
feel forgiveness for my attacker. He's responsible for the pain he's brought to
me and my family and nothing will restore things to normal."
Irving, of The
Crossway, Wealdstone, Harrow, denied raping the victim and initially claimed he
had never been to Cardiff but he was found guilty following a trial.
In mitigation
Andreas O'Shea said his client was a father-of-two with the youngest child
being born 10 days ago but the defendant missed the birth having been remanded
in custody following the trial.
He said while the
defendant maintained his innocence there was "another side to him"
and described him as a "supportive father".
Sentencing, Judge
Williams said the defendant was a "high risk" to young women in a
social setting. He added: "[The victim] was subjected to both degradation
and humiliation with the rapes being treated as entertainment to others in the
flat. It was a sustained incident and involved her being raped twice and
threatened with a third. She was vulnerable. She was a very young female just
days out of childhood and helplessly incapacitated by drugs she unwittingly
took."
Irving was
sentenced to 13 years imprisonment, of which he will serve two-thirds, and made
subject to sexual offenders notification requirements for life.
