A 38-YEAR-OLD man who raped a “vulnerable” woman while she was unconscious has been jailed for nine and a half years.
The actions of Fabio Manuel De Jesus Nunes were described as “chillingly manipulative” by the Bailiff in the Royal Court, where it was also recommended that he be deported to Madeira after serving his sentence.
The court heard that Nunes met the woman in St Helier town centre and she invited him back to the home she shared with her partner.
The three sat drinking until the woman’s partner went to bed and Nunes went out to buy cannabis.
Crown Advocate Lauren Hallam, prosecuting, said the victim was unconscious by the time Nunes engaged in sexual activity with her.
Advocate Hallam said Nunes kissed the woman and moved her from the armchair in which she was slumped onto a sofa, where he touched her sexually, removed her clothes and had sex with her.
His actions were captured on the property’s CCTV camera.
Advocate Hallam said: “There was no response from the victim at all. He had to hold her head up to kiss her and when he let go, it fell back down again.”
She added that the victim had suffered trauma in the past and was diagnosed with PTSD, so said: “She could hardly have been more vulnerable.”
She said Nunes was “at moderate risk of committing a further sexual offence” and recommended a prison sentence of nine and a half years.
Advocate Rui Tremoceiro, defending, accepted Nunes would be jailed but asked for a sentence of six years.
He said: “He has done a very bad thing and he is aware that he should be punished.
“He also knows that nothing but a prison sentence measured in years will suffice to reflect society’s displeasure in what he has done.”
Advocate Tremoceiro also added: “There is no evidence of severe physical harm.”
The Bailiff, Sir Timothy Le Cocq, accepted that Nunes had no relevant previous convictions and had eventually pleaded guilty, sparing the victim the ordeal of a trial.
But he said: “It is clear that the victim at all times was wholly unconscious and insensible, and incapable of resisting or consenting.
“You were fully aware of what you were doing and there was something chillingly manipulative about it.”
He also said the Jurats felt he met the conditions for deportation.
The Jurats sitting were Elizabeth Dulake, Steven Austin-Vautier, Gareth Hughes, Alison Opferman and Michael Entwistle.
