August 21, 2009

Drunk woman raped while sleeping

By Anne Clarkson

A young woman on her first ?great adventure? away from home was raped by Nicholas James Franklin as she lay drunk in her bed.

Franklin was jailed for seven years four months by Judge Colin Doherty in the Christchurch District Court today.

He has a criminal record stretching to nine pages of print-out, including burglary, and he was on the run from Moana House in Dunedin when he committed the sexual violation by rape.

He pleaded guilty after the depositions hearing and was appearing for sentence.

Franklin, 29,?was on parole when he ran away from the rehabilitation centre, unlawfully took a car, and went to the West Coast.

Judge Doherty said the woman was staying at a lodge. It was her first great adventure, her first journey away from home. She had become extremely intoxicated and was asleep in her bed.

She awoke to find Franklin on top of her, told him to get off and get out, but went back to sleep.

Franklin had earlier been rebuffed by another woman at the same lodge.

Defence counsel David Bunce said the offence was committed while Franklin was intoxicated.

The presentence report said that Franklin had had an unhappy and unstable upbringing and had mental health issues arising from this.

He said that the letter he handed to the judge from Franklin expressed his remorse.

Crown prosecutor Deidre Orchard said Franklin sexually violated the victim who was asleep, extremely intoxicated and vulnerable, in her own bed.

She said Franklin was in breach of his home detention conditions, and was on the run from the police.

She said he had a list of previous convictions for burglary, theft, and being found unlawfully in yards.

The mother of the victim read her daughter?s victim impact report to the court.

It said that she was angry and humiliated, and now hated to be alone at night. She was very security conscious, and it took counselling before she was able to take a job working with the public again.

She said she had been robbed of confidence and self-esteem.

She had to go through medical tests to find out whether she had been infected, he said.

Judge Doherty said Franklin had been unlawfully in the house and had taken advantage of a woman in an extremely vulnerable situation.