A West Cumbrian man has been handed a nine-year prison sentence for molesting and trying to rape a sleeping woman after being convicted by a jury in his absence when he fled the country.
Alan Adam, whose Carlisle Crown Court trial went ahead earlier this month without both him and a defence barrister, was again missing from the dock yesterday and remains at large as punishment was meted out by a judge.
Jurors took just 90 minutes to convict 38-year-old Adam of sexually assaulting and attempting to rape a woman at his home in Workington on 19th February, 2020. She had been driven from out of county with a friend to what was an unfamiliar area to her and had been a reluctant attendee at the flat.
After reaching their verdicts, members of the 12-strong jury panel were told Adam had fled the UK by ferry last July despite being aware of court proceedings.
Prosecutor Robert Smith was the only barrister in court for the trial, which heard that the woman had suddenly become unwell after a drinking game during a gathering at the address with Adam topping up her glass.
She woke in his bedroom and told him no in response to unwanted sexual advances but these had carried on regardless, the court heard.
Only the woman’s brave physical resistance in pushing Adam away prevented her being raped but she was left with some injuries and profound mental scars.
Three years on, the woman said in an impact statement that she continued to live a nightmare. “I can’t even say his name and never will,” she said. “He has broken me, and I don’t think I ever fully trust a man again. He took advantage of me when I was asleep and intoxicated.”
Adam, previously of Harrington Road, Workington, was handed a nine-year jail term and must sign the sex offenders’ register for life.
Judge David Potter, who had been satisfied in the interests of justice that the case should proceed in Adam’s absence, said: “The defendant, knowing he was to face trial, deliberately absconded from the UK in the summer of 2022. His present whereabouts are unknown.
“This sentence will be imposed in his absence. If and when he is extradited or detained in the UK, the sentence I am about to impose will take effect.”
