Having been found guilty of drugging and raping three men, an amphetamine-hooked predator, Nico Baxter Sussex Paedophile, has been sentenced to 23 years in prison.
In East Sussex in April 2021, Nico Baxter, 39, approached a homeless guy sleeping on a bench in his third offence and invited him back to his residence under the guise of drinking coffee. Before Baxter injected amphetamines into him, both “spoke about being gay”, the court heard.
Foreplay was involved, but the man claimed there was no penetration because of Nico Baxter’s HIV status; Nico Baxter then raped the man. Baxter had destroyed his life in one day, he stated in a statement.
Both of the first two charges involved drug usage and occurred in Manchester and Stockport, respectively, where Nico Baxter had lived before moving to Sussex. First, on December 16, 2019, East Sussex resident Nico Baxter came onto a man in Manchester’s streets.
The couple returned to his place, where he contacted his drug dealer to obtain crack cocaine, which they shared. Nico Baxter departed and then came back with another woman before more narcotics were consumed, Minshull Street Crown Court heard.
The victim then turned in for sleep and woke up to Baxter perched over him. “He could feel a pain, his boxer shorts were pulled off, he couldn’t move, and he was powerless to resist and froze lying there whilst he was raped – the defendant left the room and went downstairs whilst the victim lay in bed afraid,” prosecutor Amanda Johnson said.
Later, Nico Baxter returned upstairs and once more raped the man while he lay “immobile, frozen and powerless”. The victim, who battled drug usage and was grieving the death of a loved one, descended downstairs hours later.
Let me care after you, Nico Baxter advised him. The victim overdosed and spent a few days in hospital before he could notify law authorities, the court heard.
Providing evidence at trial, he claimed the incident “undermined his pride and dignity as a man” and expressed a desire to move house. The second incident occurred in April 2020 when Nico Baxter observed an inebriated guy waiting for a friend in Stockport town centre and enquired whether he had seen his companion.
Ictim returned to his flat, the prosecutor remarked. “He handed him a little white pill; the man asked where his friend was, at which the defendant feigned calling him.
“He stated he had a girlfriend and he was not gay when questioned whether he was. Before the defendant walked up to him carrying a syringe and sprayed the contents into his mouth, he was sipping cider.
He passed out and then woke up on a mattress devoid of memory of how he arrived. Then he woke up and found Nico Baxter was raping him; this occurred once more when the man said he felt “powerless”.
Before phoning the police in a “terrible state,” the victim fled and described feeling “belittled and disgusted” by what had happened. In a statement, he said he felt “duped” by Nico Baxter, that he was vulnerable and had low self-worth and dignity and felt uncomfortable and terrified among other males.
Nico Baxter had 37 past convictions for 84 offences, none of which were sexual, the court said. Reducing the risk of taking drugs with others requires involvement, barrister Beverley Cherrill said.
Judge Bernadette Nico Baxter said in sentencing: “You have shown no insight into what you have done to them and have no regret for what you have done and maintained that it was consensual. These crimes show that you are an amphetamine addict and predatory sex offender.
“This addiction intensifies any sexual obsession; you are constantly searching for a sexual partner and able to spot vulnerable people unable to resist you. You pre-planned and lacked much or any internal control over your sexual urges.
“At the time of the commission of these offences, although he was HIV positive, it was undetectable,” she stated. “One can understand why the victims had worries.”
Following a February trial, Baxter was judged guilty of seven counts of rape by a jury. He was ordered to sign the sex offender register indefinitely; he was imprisoned for 23 years with an extended licence period of two years; he will serve two-thirds of his custody term before being considered for parole.
Said the judge: “I find you to be a dangerous offender under the sentencing provisions and that you present a significant risk of serious harm to members of the public.”
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