A SEX attacker who assaulted a fancy-dressed young woman in a Leamington alleyway has narrowly escaped being jailed.
Keowen Carberry had denied sexually assaulting the woman during the incident in April last year, but was found guilty after a trial at Coventry Crown Court in June.
Following an adjournment for a pre-sentence report to be prepared on him, Carberry, of St Margarets Road, Leamington, was given a two-year prison sentence suspended for two years.
Judge Philip Gregory, who had warned the 24-year-old there was ‘a very real possibility’ he would be jailed, also ordered him to do 150 hours of unpaid work.
And as a result of the sentence Carberry will have to register as a sex offender for ten years.
During the trial the jury heard his victim had been out in fancy dress, and after parting with her friends, she had gone to get some chicken nuggets and chips.
The young woman said there was a passageway near the take-away shop, so had decided to go there to eat her food and to sober up a little before going home.
In a recorded interview played to the jury, she said she then saw ‘a young guy at the entrance going for a wee,’ so had decided to wait for him to finish before leaving.
He then noticed her and, using the name of the character she was dressed as, asked her if she was OK and then offered to walk her home, but she told him she was fine.
“All of a sudden he’s against me, trying to kiss me. Then he’s pushed me round the corner, trying to kiss me again. I’m saying ‘No, get off me,’ and he’s clutching me between the legs.
“He put his hand on my mouth and nose, and I can’t breathe. The wig has come over my eyes, and I can’t really see very much.
“He shoved me down and I scraped my knee, and he’s on top of me, grabbing my boobs and between my legs.
“Then he snapped out of it and said ‘I’m sorry, I’m really sorry.’ I said ‘It’s fine, just let me go.’
“He stands up and I stand up, and then he snaps back into it. He pushes me up against a car and is biting my neck.”
She said Carberry then seemed to snap out of it again, and she ran off and phoned one of her friends before getting a taxi to her friend’s home.
When she got there and looked in her bag, she realised her purse and other items must have fallen out, so her friend paid for the taxi.
The young woman said she changed out of her costume and waited until it was light to walk home, going past the scene of the incident, and found her things still in the alley.
And she added: “I couldn’t fight him off. He just wouldn’t take no for an answer.”
Carberry, who was of previous good character and said he worked at a children’s nursery, claimed what happened in the alleyway had been with her consent.
Following the jury’s verdict Judge Gregory said: “He told us he was employed in a nursery, and one of the consequences of this conviction, I imagine, is that he will lose that employment.”
