Daniel Howard (Picture: PA)
An army captain who raped a house guest as his fiancée slept in the room next door has been jailed for seven years.
Daniel Howard, 29, from Darlington, was found guilty after a four-day trial at Teesside Crown Court and was accused of inventing a ‘ludicrous’ explanation for forensic evidence linking him with the attack after claiming both women must have independently used the same sex toy.
Howard’s DNA was found inside the victim’s underwear and his semen was discovered on swabs taken from her.
Even though experts said it was more likely to have been the result of intercourse, he said they could not be sure.
During the trial, Recorder Andrew Sutcliffe, QC, said the woman’s account against Howard did not add up and the jury could not be sure she had been raped.
She said she had gone to bed in the spare room after a night drinking with Howard and his partner who is now his wife.
In her evidence, she told the court Howard forced himself upon her, and warned her not to tell his fiancée.
The following morning, she tried to call her boyfriend, and rang a rape crisis line before driving to a hospital.
She had tried to pretend everything was normal when she got up, and Howard asked her if she had a good time.
Paul Cleasby prosecuting told the jury: ‘It is clear she has no motive to make an allegation up against the defendant.’
Howard wept in the dock as the jury came into court to deliver its verdict.
An army captain who raped a house guest as his fiancée slept in the room next door has been jailed for seven years.
Daniel Howard, 29, from Darlington, was found guilty after a four-day trial at Teesside Crown Court and was accused of inventing a ‘ludicrous’ explanation for forensic evidence linking him with the attack after claiming both women must have independently used the same sex toy.
Howard’s DNA was found inside the victim’s underwear and his semen was discovered on swabs taken from her.
Even though experts said it was more likely to have been the result of intercourse, he said they could not be sure.
During the trial, Recorder Andrew Sutcliffe, QC, said the woman’s account against Howard did not add up and the jury could not be sure she had been raped.
She said she had gone to bed in the spare room after a night drinking with Howard and his partner who is now his wife.
In her evidence, she told the court Howard forced himself upon her, and warned her not to tell his fiancée.
The following morning, she tried to call her boyfriend, and rang a rape crisis line before driving to a hospital.
She had tried to pretend everything was normal when she got up, and Howard asked her if she had a good time.
Paul Cleasby prosecuting told the jury: ‘It is clear she has no motive to make an allegation up against the defendant.’
Howard wept in the dock as the jury came into court to deliver its verdict.
Metro
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