Crime
Woman ‘humiliated and embarrassed’ after alleged childhood rape
A COURT has heard how a woman was left feeling ‘humiliated and embarrassed’ after being allegedly raped by a man when she was just nine years old.
“I feel so humiliated,” the victim told a jury sitting at Swansea Crown Court on Monday.
“He told me that if I ever told anybody, they wouldn’t believe me and I wouldn’t have any friends. I took his word for it.
“I was so scared that I used to wet the bed. And I knew why I was doing it…it was because I was scared.”
Gary Hicks, is accused of raping the female sometime between July 7, 1987, and December 31, 1989, when she was aged between 9 and 11.
This week Hicks, 63, appeared before a jury where he denied the charge.
The Crown claimed that at some point between 1987 and 1989, Hicks entered an upstairs bedroom in the house in the Milford Haven area where the child was living at the time of the alleged offence.
“She’d fallen asleep on the floor and Gary Hicks entered the room and laid her on her front,” said Daniel Jones, KC, for the Crown.
“She felt the defendant lift her hips and he penetrated her vagina with his hands from behind.”
Mr Jones claimed the assault lasted ‘a few minutes’.
“Gary Hicks said that if she ever told anyone about the abuse, she would not be believed and she’d have no friends,” he said. “‘Who was going to believe a young girl over a grown up?”
However when the child reached adulthood, she began telling people in confidence. These included her psychotherapist in 1993, her GP in 2006, a work colleague, and close members of her family. Finally, in the early hours of October, 2022 the victim made a call to Dyfed-Powys Police claiming that Gary Hicks had raped her when she was a child.
Hicks, formerly of Milford Haven, who now resides in Oregon Way, Luton denies the charge of rape.
His trial is expected to continue throughout this week.
Crime
Man arrested for murder following death of pensioner in Pembroke Dock
Officers called to Hawkstone Road property as investigation continues and residents urged to come forward
DYFED-POWYS POLICE officers have launched a murder investigation following the sudden death of an eighty-five-year-old man at a property in Hawkstone Road, Pembroke Dock.
Emergency services were called at approximately 1:30pm today (Friday, Feb 6).
Officers attended the scene and enquiries are ongoing to establish the full circumstances of the death.
A man in his forties has been arrested on suspicion of murder and remains in police custody.
Residents can expect to see an increased police presence in the area while the investigation continues.
Anyone with information that could assist officers is urged to come forward.
Information can be provided online, by 101.
Quote reference: 212 of February 6.
Alternatively, reports can be made anonymously to Crimestoppers on 0800 555111 or via their website.
Crime
Man fined after obstructing police in Haverfordwest
A HAVERFORDWEST man has been fined after admitting obstructing police officers during an incident in the town centre.
John Smith, aged twenty-seven, of Castle Street, Haverfordwest, pleaded guilty at Haverfordwest Magistrates’ Court to wilfully obstructing a constable in the execution of their duty.
The offence took place on Tuesday (Feb 3).
Magistrates fined him £160 and ordered him to pay £85 costs and a £64 victim services surcharge.
Crime
Teen ordered to pay compensation after assault
A TEENAGER has been ordered to pay compensation after admitting an assault which left another young person injured.
A 13-year-old boy from Pembroke Dock appeared before Haverfordwest Magistrates’ Court charged with assault occasioning actual bodily harm.
The court heard the offence involved an attack on another youth.
Due to the age of those involved, no further details of the incident can be reported.
Magistrates ordered the defendant to pay £500 in compensation to the victim, along with prosecution costs.
The matter was dealt with in the youth court.
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