After getting many letters from her imprisoned assailant, John Harding HMP Parc Rapist, a RAPE survivor has denounced HMP Parc in Bridgend, South Wales, for failing “to keep victims safe”.
Despite begging authorities to intervene, Rieve Nesbitt-Marr, 21, renounced her right to privacy to disclose that she had been sent seven letters from her rapist over ten months.
Already under fire following ten inmate fatalities earlier this year, HMP Parc said it takes public protection “very seriously” and claimed measures were made to stop the letters.
John Harding, 28, had been seeing Ms Nesbitt-Marr for just 12 days when he locked her in her Newport flat in July 2023 and sexually assaulted her. Saying she was “not scared enough,” Harding stood on her head and dragged her over the floor throughout the protracted attack.
Seeking cover in a nearby Boots store where she reported the rape, she fled early the next morning. That same day, John Harding was arrested and housed at HMP Parc until trial.
Three weeks later, Ms Nesbitt-Marr got the first letter from John Harding conveyed via another convict. Harding said in the letter that he wanted to start their connection again after his release and made improper allusions to her “naked skin.”
Ms Nesbitt-Marr, diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), said seeing the letter felt like going back over the incident. The letters persisted even when one contacted the prison and Gwent Police.
She got seven letters in all, both before and following John Harding’s December conviction for several crimes, including rape and false imprisonment. Although John Harding was sentenced to fifteen years and issued a restraining order, the correspondence continued.
Ms Nesbitt-Marr posted her ordeal on TikHub, where she attracted hundreds of thousands of views and comments from other women who were going through the same things. Nevertheless, she feels “completely in the dark,” as the jail has not yet apologised or contacted her.
Having spent twenty years working in prisons, Paul Nesbitt-Marr, her father, attacked HMP Parc, claiming that stopping such letters is a “basic” responsibility. The letters went on even with promises from the jail.
G4S, the corporation running HMP Parc, admitted the problem while speaking with the BBC and claimed to have “all appropriate steps” done, including punishing John Harding and two other prisoners. They did, however, acknowledge Harding broke the restraining order using outside third parties.
Gwent Police verified they are looking at the letters.
Campaigner and fellow rape survivor Ellie Wilson commended Ms Nesbitt-Marr’s bravery and attacked the legal system for considering survivors as “afterthought.” Wilson underlined how victims need more assistance and openness.
Unwanted contact from offenders in jail is not unusual, revealed Sara Kirkpatrick of Welsh Women’s Aid. As it is a further offence, she advised victims to report such events to the police and jail authorities.
Ms Nesbitt-Marr called for an apology from the jail and hoped her testimony would guard other victims. She underlined that the offender should be the only person ashamed since victims should not feel humiliated.
“I want ladies to know that this is nothing to be ashamed of,” she stated. “The only person that needs to be embarrassed is the one that invaded you.”
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