A dangerous upper killay sex offender named Ben Davies sexually assaulted a solitary female on a bench outside a Tesco shop, according to court testimony. Ben Davies pursued the adolescent to the store, where he forcibly kissed her and subsequently bit her thigh.
Swansea Crown Court was informed that the victim no longer feels secure strolling alone in Swansea city centre and consistently checks over her shoulder when outside. A court stated that the repercussions of Davies’ actions on young women “cannot and should not be underestimated” when sentencing the defendant to jail.
Hannah George, representing the prosecution, said the court that the assault victim had spent the night of October 26 this year with friends on Wind Street in Swansea, but by the early hours of the subsequent morning, had grown detached from the group and opted to return home. She stated that the adolescent contacted her boyfriend to collect her, and they coordinated to convene in the Tesco in the city centre.
The court heard the woman set off for Tesco and as she did so she was approached by the 23-year-old defendant who asked if he could use her phone. The teenager said no and continued on her way. The prosecutor said as the woman approached the St David’s multi-storey car park she saw the defendant on the second storey and then heard him shouting to her that he “needed a hole to f***” and telling her she should come and join him. The prosecutor said said the woman “declined his advances” and continued to the nearby Tesco where she sat on a bench outside and began to fall asleep.
The court heard the teenager awoke to find Ben Davies sitting next to her telling her she should not be out alone and offering her a place to stay for the night. The defendant continued to try to persuade the woman to accompany him telling her: “I wanted you since I saw you on Wind Street” and saying he could not get a girlfriend and didn’t understand why.
The court heard Ben Davies then put his arm around the woman and tried to kiss her. The woman turned away and he grabbed her face and ended up kissing her on the cheek asking how she could “look like that and not get me going and not let me do anything”. The defendant then dropped to his knees in front of the woman and began kissing her thighs before telling her he was going to “eat her” and then biting her thigh. The woman began crying and Ben Davies apologised before shouting at her.
The court heard the teenager walked around the Tesco building in a bid to get rid of Ben Davies but he followed her and he then pointed at a passing male and told the woman that the man wanted to rape her. The woman walked off towards Swansea Prison and managed to lose the defendant in the streets around the jail before being collected by her boyfriend.
The court heard the matter was reported to police and a subsequent search through CCTV footage showed Ben Davies talking to women in Wind Street on the night in question. The court heard that when the victim left Wind Street at just after 2am Ben Davies was seen to cross Victoria Road from the Morgan’s Hotel side and begin to follow her. Ben Davies was identified and subsequently arrested after police found him driving his car in Swansea. In his interview the defendant denied the allegation of sexual assault and denied “forcing himself” on the woman saying all he had done was was to touch the female. He then provided a prepared statement in which he denied following the female but accepted kissing her and said he had been concerned for her welfare after finding her sleeping on the bench.
In an impact statement from the victim which was read to the court the teenager said she no longer feels safe walking alone in Swansea on a night out and is always looking over her shoulder when she goes out. She said she keeps replaying the events of the night over and over again in her head and she said she had previously always seen the best of people but now questions that.
Ben Davies, of Edgemoor Close, Upper Killay, Swansea, had previously pleaded guilty to sexual assault when he appeared in the dock for sentencing. He has no previous convictions. John Allchurch, for Ben Davies, said the defendant’s parents had attended court in support of their son but had not felt able to come into the courtroom itself and he said a former police officer had written a letter to the court on behalf of his client. The advocate said Ben Davies accepted his behaviour must have been frightening for the victim and said his client wished to apologise for his “immature and stupid” actions.
Judge Huw Rees said Ben Davies’ actions on the night in question was concerning. He said the defendant had been “persistent and insistent” in his behaviour towards the female and said the experience must have left the woman feeling petrified. The judge said the effect on young females of behaviour of the type exhibited by Ben Davies “cannot and should not be underestimated”. With a one-third discount for his guilty plea and in line with the sentencing guidelines Ben Davies was sentenced to six months in prison. He will serve up to half that period in custody before being released on licence to serve the remainder in the community. Ben Davies will be a registered sex offender for the next seven years.
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