A "selfish and self-centred" man, who took the opportunity of raping a sleeping woman has been jailed for eight years today.

Shane Balwin from Chatham had claimed he just "fell" on top of the his victim - but a jury rejected his account.

The drunken woman woke to find Shane Baldwin having sex with her, Maidstone Crown Court heard.

She said in an impact statement how she was left shocked and fearful after the attack and needed counselling.

The victim added: "I constantly question myself. Why me? What have I done to him to deserve to be treated like my body is worthless?"

She revealed she is now living in "a constant nightmare".

Baldwin, 31, of Goldcrest Drive, St Mary's Island, was told by Judge Adele Williams:"You are a selfish and self-centred young man who has shown no remorse. On this occasion you thought of no-one but yourself and your desire to satisfy yourself sexually.

The victim had told the jury:“I woke up and saw Shane above me. I saw his hair coming down. I was confused because I’d been in a deep sleep. He was having sex with me.”

She added that she was drunk but capable of knowing what was going on.

“It was like he was trying not to wake me. I said: 'Shane, what’s going on?' He then went back to his room. I went to the toilet and was sick.”

She called a friend and told her what had happened who advised her to leave and call a taxi.

She said: “I couldn’t stop crying. The Uber driver asked me what had happened. He asked me if I had been raped and I said yes.

"He asked me if I wanted to go to a police station. I said no and went to my friend’s house.”

The woman later told police how in 2017 she had met other friends.Baldwin was there and they all continued drinking, ending the evening in a Rochester nightclub.

They took a taxi back to Baldwin’s then house and she went straight to bed in the spare room.

She told the jury: “I felt I was going to a safe place."

Abigail Husbands, prosecuting, told the jury that the victim was given pyjama bottoms to wear in bed and she put those on over her pants. When she woke with Baldwin having sex with her the pyjama bottoms and her pants were missing.

Baldwin, who had denied rape, claimed he got up in the night and went to the toilet and went through the spare bedroom where the victim was sleeping on the way back to his room.

"The Uber driver asked me what had happened. He asked me if I had been raped and I said yes..."

“I tripped on the edge of the bed and fell on top of her,” he claimed.

Detective Constable Tony Devito, Kent Police’s investigating officer for the case, said: "Baldwin inexcusably betrayed the trust the victim had placed in him in the worst possible way.

"He then told a series of absurd lies to claim his innocence, despite there being incontrovertible evidence against his assertions.

"It took a tremendous amount of courage for the victim to relive the ordeal in court and I am pleased that we have secured justice for her."

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