Army Captain Jailed 7 Years For Raping Fiancé’s Best Friend Who Slept In The Next Room – But That’s Not All

An army captain was sentenced to seven years in prison for raping his fiancé’s best friend, who slept in the adjacent room, but that’s not all, according to the Mirror. After 29-year-old Daniel Howard snuck out of the room he shared with his fiancé, April, in February 2014 to rape her best friend, his wife stood by him when she found out and married him anyway.

April’s 26-year-old best friend, whose name has not been released to the public, claims that she “only said something in the first place to try to protect April. I couldn’t have stood in church on her wedding day knowing what had happened and that it would most probably happen again.”

Sandhurst officer’s wife stands by him after he is given seven years for rape | http://t.co/3GxFfabVtF

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However, the rape victim’s attempt to protect her friend was in vain, as she married her attacker two weeks before his four-day trial commenced. Howard was tried for raping his wife’s former best friend but claimed he was innocent. He told the court that the woman must have used his DNA from a sex toy he used prior to the alleged rape. However, Judge Recorder Andrew Sutcliffe assured him that there was “the strongest possible evidence against him” that indicates he, in fact, raped his fiance’s best friend.

According to the Daily Mail, the victim, who has since been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, told the court that during the rape, Howard warned her not to tell his fiancé and afterwards asked, “Have you had a good time?” The rape attack took place in Darlington, County Durham, just after a night out with her best friend. After the attack, she went to a local hospital, where staff later alerted police.

She also went on to say, “I couldn’t go anywhere alone. My mum had to be in the bathroom with me when she came around and washed my hair for me as I was too exhausted to do it myself. I still have anxiety attacks where I’ll break down in tears and ring a friend crying for no reason whatsoever.”

“This will always be part of my life that I have to learn to deal with. I don’t think I will ever fully recover. I’ve been on sleeping pills prescribed by the doctor for a number of months. I constantly think about what happened and often have flashbacks to that night.”

“It sounds silly but I’m frightened someone will come and get me again, and no-one will know. I had a good job, a strong relationship, a bright future, a plan for a house. I just feel damaged and broken,” the victim added.

Before the sentencing, Judge Recorder Andrew Sutcliffe told Howard in court, “In the face of overwhelming DNA evidence to the contrary, you continued to deny this happened. This attempt to humiliate and denigrate your victim severely exacerbated the wrong you had already done to her.”

“By using this excuse, you have demonstrated no regard for the impact this far-fetched allegation would have on her. What you did was calculated. You relied on the victim keeping what you had done a secret burden to herself. You sought to degrade and humiliate her by concocting a wholly false and unwarranted allegation.”

Howard was sentenced to seven years in prison for raping his wife’s best friend and has since been discharged from the military.

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