A man has been convicted of raping an unconscious woman in Hackney after the victim was unable to consent to sex due to her health condition.
Mark Anderson was on Friday sentenced to eight years in prison for rape after her “took advantage” of the woman who he knew was vulnerable.
The woman had been with Anderson at his home address in Shafton Road, Hackney, east London, on August 6 last year and recalled that she felt a seizure was about to come on.
She didn’t recall much from the attack but was aware that Anderson was having sex with her and of being unable to consent due to her body being frozen, Met Police said.
Due to the seizures, she lacked any sort of energy and it was only after speaking with a close family member that she had challenged him on it.
When confronting Anderson she said “You raped me” to which he responded “Yeah good!”.
The victim, who is anonymous due to the nature of the crime, reported the incident to police the same day and urgent enquiries began.
A lengthy enquiry showed that she had recurring medical events and that Anderson had tried to dismiss the severity of her condition while he sent her aggressive texts.
The victim told the court that she has been having realistic nightmares and that her life has been upended by the events.
She said: “I am scared to sleep, scared to be awake. I have not only had my dignity stolen, my soul has been stolen, being used as a piece of meat to satisfy his sick sexual needs.
“The fear has constantly got me to the point of feeling suicidal. Lack of sleep and constant fear and anxiety brings my seizures on, the very thing that enabled him.
“The reality is, wherever I go, what happened to me is always there in my head. I am not the same person I once was. I can’t go out on my own as I am always looking over my shoulder.
“I used to be so confident, fiery and full of life, now I am just an empty shell.”
Anderson was also convicted at Wood Green Crown Court of one count of assault after he threw a bag of clothes at a victim and became verbally aggressive in May last year.
He received a three-month sentence for the assault to run concurrently.
Detective constable Daniel Neville who led the investigation said: “This man took advantage of the victim knowing full well that she was vulnerable and could not consent due to her medical condition.
“Anderson claimed he had engaged in consensual sex, but the wealth of evidence we presented to the courts meant his lies were uncovered.”
