It was revealed yesterday by Sussex police that a man has been found guilty of raping a woman, as well as stealing her bag, and has been sentenced to eight years in prison.
Javon Raffington-Paul, aged 21, pleaded not guilty to charges of rape, fraud and theft, but a jury found him guilty of all three charges after a week long trial at Lewes Crown Court.
The jury heard that on the 27th October 2017 the victim, a 27 year old woman, was out with friends in Brighton when Raffington- Paul befriended her and escorted her to East Street tap where he raped her as well as steal her bag, before he proceeded to go on a shopping spree with her stolen bank card.
Raffington- Paul, who is of no fixed address, was spotted by an off-duty police officer a week later, and was subsequently arrested and charged. He remained in jail from the time of his arrest up until the trial.
Whilst the victim naturally dealt with a great deal of trauma following the attack, she is recovering and has continued with her studies.
Detective Constable Elaine Welsh congratulated the vitctim for her bravey, and has said of the case that “The victim’s strength, courage and bravery enabled the police to take a dangerous and manipulative offender off the streets […] I would also like to pay tribute to the two passers by who found her and looked after her until she was safe”.
The Detective Constable also went on to encourage anyone who is ever unfortunately a victim of such an awful crime to always report the incident and said that the police “take all reports of such offences seriously and we will investigate thoroughly. We have specially trained officers to support victims and where possible we will endeavour to bring offenders to justice.”
