The past finally caught up with Bedford man Alan Addison on Friday, October 15, 2021, when he was jailed for raping a teenage girl in the early hours of New Year’s Day in 2002.
Addison had been 36 when he raped the 14-year-old girl in a flat in the town, having been out drinking in a local pub.
Addison, of Kennedy Road, Bedford – who will be 57 on Saturday, October 16, appeared for sentencing at Luton Crown Court. He admitted a charge of raping the girl and of indecently assaulting her.
Michael Williams prosecuting said the defendant had spent the evening of New Year’s Eve drinking in a pub in Bedford and at the end of the night, went back to a flat with others.
The court heard also present in the flat that night was the 14-year-old girl who, having consumed alcohol, was lying on a sofa in the lounge.
Judge Gary Lucie, hearing the case, was told that as the night wore on, the defendant and the teenager ended up the only ones in the room.
The prosecutor said Addison asked the girl for a cuddle and then “proceeded to kiss her and take her clothes off.”
Mr Williams said the girl was left panic stricken and froze as he indecently assaulted her and then raped her.
“She said it was rough and it hurt her. She doesn’t know how long it took but she said it felt like forever,” he said.
The court was told the girl pretended to fall asleep, but was awake all night. Mr Williams said the girl, having spoken to a relative about what had happened, was taken to a police station, but then “abandoned her complaint” fearing that she had no support.
As a result of what happened to her that night and the aftermath, Mr Williams said the victim’s life “went downhill.”
She was plagued by nightmares and flashbacks and began using drugs. Eventually, she turned to sedatives to “black things out,” he said.
She left school without any qualifications and in her 20s was using Ketamine which damaged her health.
Mr Williams said in the years that followed, the victim’s own daughter was removed from her.
“She said the defendant stole her childhood and the years taken from her she will never get back,” he said. Rishy Panasar, defending, said Addison had shown “remorse” for what had happened and, in the years that followed, had suffered a “breakdown.”
Judge Lucie jailed Addison for nine years, explaining that he would have to serve two thirds of the sentence behind bars before being eligible for release on licence and serving the remainder in the community.
His name will also go on the sex offenders register for the rest of his life.
