January 2019 Man sentenced to 15 years imprisonment for rapes and indecent assaults A man who raped and indecently assaulted vulnerable teenage girls who lived at two Daventry charity homes where he worked in the 1990s has been sentenced to 15 years in prison. On Friday, January 18, Mark Westley, 56, of Long Lawford, Rugby, was convicted and sentenced for nine charges after a 10-day trial at Northampton Crown Court. The offences included multiple rapes and indecent assaults which took place between 1994 and 1995 at the Post House and Move On House, where Westley was then deputy manager.  The homes provided accommodation and support for children coming out of social care from the age of 15, as well as homeless people dealing with issues such as drug or alcohol abuse. Investigations into Westley began in August 2016, when a woman contacted Northamptonshire Police to report that she had been regularly raped and sexually assaulted by Westley while living at the Post House in 1994-1995, when she was 17 and 18 years old. The subsequent investigation identified a second victim who also disclosed being raped by Westley as a teenager. At his trial at Northampton Crown Court, Westley denied 13 charges against him. Mark Westley was convicted of nine charges including multiple rapes and indecent assaults, for which he received five 15-year sentences, to be served concurrently. Jurors heard from both victims, as well as witnesses including fellow residents, a former manager who detailed an internal investigation into Westley’s actions, and counsellors who helped one of the victims. Following the guilty verdict, the prosecution read from victim personal statements which revealed how Westley’s abuse of the two women had led to a lifetime of physical and psychological suffering. Passing sentence, His Honour Judge Marcus Tregilgas-Davey said both victims were troubled and vulnerable and should have felt safe and secure in the home, branding Westley’s actions ‘utterly wicked’.