OFFENDER JAILED FOR DRUG-FACILITATED RAPE AND PROLONGED SEXUAL ASSAULT
A man named Caspar Smith, aged 46, has been sentenced to 12.5 years in prison after being convicted of a violent and extended sexual assault that lasted for 45 minutes.Smith targeted a woman in her 30s who was both physically and mentally vulnerable, luring her to his residence in Omega Place in October 2018.
He planned the assault and manipulated the victim by drugging her, which rendered her unable to control her body during the attack.
Smith was apprehended in February 2019 after being identified, but he refused to disclose the identities of two accomplices, prompting ongoing police investigations.
Although Smith pleaded not guilty to charges of rape, sexual assault, and aiding and abetting, the court found him guilty on all counts during his trial at Warwick Crown Court on June 29.
Prosecutor Caroline Harris explained that Smith knew the victim through their prior drug use and was aware of her health issues.
She emphasized that the assault was premeditated, stating, “This was a planned sexual attack.
He had planned and engineered this.” The prosecution detailed how Smith pressured the woman to come to his flat, where he was with a neighbor and two other men, neither of whom the victim knew fully.
Once there, the men watched pornography as Smith secretly drugged her with medications pulled from her bag.
The victim initially spat out the pills but eventually ingested them.
Smith then used her bank card to send someone to buy drugs and dismissed her reluctance, as one of the men whispered about secrecy during the assault.
During the attack, Smith removed her underwear and sexually assaulted her despite her protests.
He then tried to include the neighbor in the assault, but after some hesitation, the neighbor left.
The victim described feeling terrified, unable to escape due to the effects of the drugs, and was subjected to multiple rapes by different men in the group, with Smith also engaging in intercourse with her and holding her while another man assaulted her.
She reported the assault to her GP days later, leading to police intervention.
When arrested, Smith denied involvement and claimed the sexual acts were consensual, but messages between him and the victim contradicted this, with her explicitly accusing him of sexual abuse and rape, to which he responded remorsefully.
Det.
Chief Inspector Steve Mobbs commented on the case, praising the victim’s bravery and noting that Smith’s refusal to name his accomplices has hindered the investigation, though the length of his sentence offers some reassurance to the survivor.
