Harrogate man's victim of sex attack tells court she is still traumatised by 'humiliating' assault

Andrew Reekie, 33, left the woman “haunted” and an emotional wreck following the “absolutely disgusting” assault, York Crown Court heard.

Prosecutor Shaun Dodds said the victim tried to kick Reekie off her during the assault and told him to “get off”.

She was crying afterwards and told a friend what had happened.

Reekie told her she “wouldn’t dare ring the police” but she plucked up the courage to do so.

Reekie, of Bramham Drive, Harrogate, was brought in for questioning two months after the attack but refused to answer police questions.

He was charged with sexual assault but denied the offence, only to plead guilty on the day of trial in January. He appeared for sentence today.

The court heard he had previous convictions for serious violence, public disorder, acquisitive crime, possessing an offensive weapon, robbery, criminal damage and breaching court orders.

The victim, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said that “life as I knew it came to an abrupt and sudden halt” following the sex attack.

“I was paralysed (with fear) and completely helpless,” she added.

She said she was “powerless” to stop Reekie and she had felt an inexplicable but “overwhelming shame” since the incident.

“I felt completely alone and unable to trust anyone,” she added.

“The sound of his voice will (continue) to play in my head. It was like a knife in my guts.”

She said that after the attack she “couldn’t eat, I couldn’t sleep or socialise”.

She had nightmares of other women being sexually assaulted and she was “more and more anxious that it was going to happen to somebody else”.

She said that even reporting the attack only “intensified the shame” and she developed serious mental-health problems.

It had affected her work and she had felt “traumatised” about the prospect of giving evidence in court.

She said that before the incident she was a “young woman full of confidence, looking forward to a bright future”, but Reekie had “took my young spirit and crushed it”.

She had sought professional help for her problems but there were still days when “I can’t get out of bed because I’m too haunted by what happened”.

“I so desperately want my life back – the life (Reekie) took from me,” she added.

Defence barrister Andrew Stranex said Reekie was a father and had since found work.

Judge Sean Morris, the Recorder of York, described the incident as a “very nasty sexual assault”.

“This was a humiliating and degrading attack,” he added.

“It has had a devastating effect on (the victim).”

He told Reekie: “What you did was absolutely disgusting. You treated (the victim) like…your own personal pleasure ground.”

He said it was clear that Reekie had refused to admit his guilt until the day of trial “in the hope that (the victim) wouldn’t have the courage to attend”.

Reekie was handed a 13-month jail sentence of which he will serve half behind bars before being released on prison licence. He was also ordered to sign on the sex-offenders’ register for ten years.