[A] MAN convicted of raping a woman as she slept has been told he will receive a prison sentence.
Neil Bell, 51, went on trial earlier this week at Carlisle Crown Court. He denied one charge of rape following an incident on October 17, 2015.
But today (FRI), having heard all the evidence in the case, a jury of six men and six women found Bell unanimously guilty of the crime.
During the trial, jurors heard of messages the victim sent to a friend the day after the offence.
“He has basically had sex with me without my consent because I was asleep,” she reported. “How can he not know I was asleep when I was lying there, eyes closed, not moving.”
Having learned of the jury’s guilty verdict, Judge Peter Davies adjourned the case.
Bell – who had claimed the woman consented to sexual intercourse – was remanded in custody. He will be sentenced on June 16.
“It will be a custodial sentence,” Judge Davies told Bell, of Walls Road, Salterbeck, Workington.
