A teenage girl and her mother have described the 'emotional trauma' they experienced after a man forced his way into their home and brutally raped them both, while threatening to stab them.
Joshua Carney, 28, who was a stranger, forced his way into the home of his two victims on March 1, 2022, just five days after being released on licence for a spate of burglaries in 2017. He has 47 previous offences to his name.
Cardiff Crown Court heard how Mr Carney raped both mother and daughter repeatedly over a 15 minute period, all while telling the mother: "Tell me I'm your husband," reports WalesOnline.
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Mr Carney, of Cardiff, pushed his way into the home where both the mother and daughter lived at just before 7am, in a "dishevelled and chaotic" state. The mother told the court that as soon as she saw him she "knew he was danger".
Carney was described by Ieuan Bennett, acting for the prosecution, as having no shoes, blood coming from both ears, and clearly in an intoxicated state. Carney pushed her into the house and locked the door behind both of them.
The mother tried to keep Mr Carney downstairs with her with her daughter asleep upstairs. He then started to hit her and punch her in the head, and her screams woke up her daughter, who immediately locked her bedroom door and called the police. Mr Bennett described the "harrowing" transcript from that call at 6.52am.
The girl told the call handler: "I can't see her, I can hear her crying, I think he's stabbed her." Later she told police that as she realised something "terrible" was happening, it caused her to "physically gag" in her bedroom.
Mr Carney then threatened to kill the mother if she did not stop screaming. Fearful he'd use a knife in the nearby kitchen to carry out his threat, she tried to follow his instructions. He pushed her into the living room before ordering her to take her clothes off and orally raping her.
Calling his remarks during the attack as "odd and disturbing", Mr Bennett said Carney called out: "Tell me I'm your husband." Afterwards, he dragged the woman out of the living room and said: "Come on, let's go upstairs." Begging him to leave her daughter alone and to stay with her downstairs, the woman managed to break free and get to the locked front door. But her hands were shaking so much she was unable to unlock it in time and Carney started punching her again and repeated his threats saying: "Do that again and I will f****** stab you."
Carney then told her she was going to go upstairs and raped her again. Mr Bennett told the court: "He then said: 'Get your daughter. Which room is your daughter in?'." The woman told him: "Do whatever you want to me but please leave her alone."
Forcing his way into the teen's bedroom, the cowering schoolgirl was confronted by a naked Carney who grabbed her mobile phone and realised she'd called the police. He ordered both women into the first bedroom where he slapped the young girl in the face and orally raped her mum in front of her daughter.
Then he turned to the daughter and Mr Bennett said: "She knew he was then going to turn on her daughter." Carney then raped the young girl. He repeated his "odd phraseology" during the assaults saying: "I'm your husband, tell me I'm your husband", Mr Bennett said.
The mum said she remembers her daughter clutching her hand so tight her knuckles went white as Carney raped the girl for a second time. Afterwards he said: "There, I finished."
'He's raped us both'
As he returned downstairs to retrieve his clothes, the police arrived outside. Terrified she and her daughter would be taken hostage inside, the mother led Carney out the back door and into the garden, telling him he could escape out the back. She rattled the key in the lock hoping to attract police attention. When the gate opened there were two police officers waiting and she simply mouthed silently: "Please take him, I beg you, he's raped us both."
Carney was arrested at the scene. Officers described him as having slurred speech and shouting at them: "What are you doing?" He admitted he'd taken spice and later claimed in his police interview that he had no memory of what had happened. He had been released from custody on licence just five days before.
Carney later pleaded guilty to 13 offences including six counts of rape, two counts of assault by penetration, two counts of actual bodily harm, attempted rape, and committing an offence with intent to commit a sexual offence.
'I was unable to protect my daughter'
In a victim impact statement, read out in court by the mother, she said: "Up until the morning of the attack I used to be a strong independent woman raising, my children....but this has all been turned upside-down." After the attack the family moved out of their "lovely home" because they couldn't face living or sleeping there any more. She added: "It was a constant reminder of what had happened to us and we no longer felt safe there."
She added: "I now have to try and rebuild a safe and comfortable home for us all," she said. "I haven't had a full night's sleep since the attack. I have recurring nightmares and daytime flashbacks and my concentration levels have been affected too."
She continued: "I don't think either of us will feel comfortable with the idea of my daughter being alone in the house again," she continued. "I'm afraid to walk down the street to the local shops and I've been driving everywhere. I'm really nervous in supermarkets. I have a family holiday and some outdoors events planned this summer but I honestly don't know if I'll be able to attend them.
"I have excessive feelings of guilt towards my daughter because a parent's job is to protect their children and I was unable to do that and I let her down. I don't think I will ever erase from my memory the images of what he did to her and what he forced me to watch him doing. She's an innocent girl and he stole her virginity from her in such a brutal way."
She added that breaking the news of the attack to the girl's father and siblings left her feeling "like a failure". She and her daughter are currently on a waiting list for counselling. "At this present moment I honestly don't feel like I will ever move on from the attack," she said. "I also don't know if I will ever allow my daughter to go out with her friends and do things that other girls her age do."
The teenager also provided a statement which was read out in court by Mr Bennett. She said: "Since the attack my school work has been affected. I have difficulty falling asleep at night and therefore fall asleep during lessons. Then when I do fall asleep I get terrible nightmares of the attack replaying again and I can hear my mum screaming. I have flashbacks and hallucinations of the attacker everywhere I go, even in my own home, which should be my safe space but this has now been taken from me.
"Because I am extremely young this attack has affected the rest of my life. I have really bad trust issues with men." She said students are "whispering and pointing at her" at school and she no longer feels able to hug or kiss her dad. "All I want is normality again," she added. "Students keep asking me questions...I don't know how to answer those questions and they are questions I shouldn't have to answer."
She continued: "Since this incident I don't feel happy and feel like I'm in my own world. I always used to be happy, smiling, joking....I have lost all trust in people. My biggest fear was of becoming pregnant or catching a disease. I took lots of medication which made me feel sick."
She too has feelings of guilt.: "I feel guilty because I locked myself in my bedroom when my mum was screaming. I did not want to bath or shower for days after the attack. I felt gross and dirty. To help me with this my auntie removed all mirrors from the bathroom and filled the bath with deep bubbles. Even then it was only a very quick bath.
"I now sleep with a hammer in my bedroom. It makes me feel a little bit safer at night. It's in a cupboard in my room. I feel safer knowing it's there. When my mum is asleep I feel I should stay awake so that one of us is always awake. I am so scared it will happen again.
"I'm worried my mum won't let me out with my friends because she won't let me out of her sight. I now feel awkward when I'm alone with my mum. I feel uncomfortable about what I saw happen to her that day and what she saw happen to me."
Vile rapist told to serve life in jail
Mr Bennett told the court that Carney, from Dros Y Morfa, Rumney, Cardiff, had 24 convictions for 47 previous offences many of those being burglaries. He had been released from custody on licence on February 25.
Representing Carney in court, Christopher Rees said the defendant was "racked with guilt" and was "disgusted in what he's done". He recognised that no words could "undo the terrible crime he has committed", Mr Rees added.
Judge Lloyd-Clarke sentenced Carney to life in prison and ordered that he serve a minimum of 10 years. In her summing up she told Carney that the mother "realised instantly you were danger" when he appeared from the corner of her house. She said: "It is clear that it was your intention from the start to sexually assault her [mother]." She described how he carried out his offences while the younger girl was "gripping her mother's hand for comfort".
She said: "I am satisfied that you are dangerous for the following reasons: the nature and circumstances of these offences; the way you made each victim watch you committing offences against the other was deliberately sadistic, no doubt done to gratify your perverted sexual desires... I also take into account you told daughter one of the rapes was punishment for calling the police."
She referred to his "long history of offending" and said it was clear from his actions that he was very much in control of what he was doing when the attack took place and his actions were "thought through and deliberate". She quoted his probationary report that highlighted his capacity for "manipulative and predatory behaviour" and "significant deficits regarding impulse control and ability to identify problems". He also had difficulties managing his sexual preoccupation and sexual interests, she noted.
Asking him to stand she said: "Your offending on that day was horrific. It was the stuff of nightmares. The consequences for your victims are obviously life-changing and exceptionally traumatic. Your offence is so serious that a sentence of life imprisonment is required and that is the sentence I impose." Carney was also ordered to register as a sex offender for life and was given a restraining order preventing him from contacting both his victims.
Detective constable Ian Booker from South Wales Police said: “Stranger attacks such as these are extremely unusual in south Wales but, in Joshua Carney, we had an extremely dangerous individual. This sickening incident is every woman’s worst nightmare and understandably both females have suffered severe shock and emotional trauma.
“It must have been absolutely terrifying for them and they have been extremely brave throughout this ordeal. We hope today’s sentencing brings some sense of closure and allows them to begin the process of regaining their confidence.
Kelly Huggins of the CPS said: “Despite the violent and truly degrading acts Carney committed the victims showed tremendous courage and clear thinking allowing really strong evidence to be gathered, which enabled the CPS to present a robust case leading to guilty pleas. Nobody can undo what has been done but we hope that the conclusion of the court case is some comfort to the victims as they rebuild their lives.”
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