After a night drinking and binging on hard drugs, 27-year-old Richard Thomas broke into the Greater Manchester home of a female acquaintance and raped her.
Thomas was arrested and he plead guilty to the rape although he claims he cannot remember the events of that night. He said his victim “would not lie, she tells the truth. If she says I have done it, I have done it,” according to his barrister, Virginia Hayton. Hayton told the Telegraph that Thomas “is remorseful and cannot understand why he did it and it is troubling him.”
Judge Mark Brown of the Liverpool Crown Court sentenced Thomas to five years and four months in jail. Thomas was also permanently listed on the Sex Offenders Register, but his greatest punishment was delivered by the victim herself.
Thomas had no idea the young woman he raped was HIV positive. During the arrest, police officers told Thomas about her condition and he collapsed at their feet in shock.