A WOMAN who was kidnapped and raped by a man from Kelvedon Hatch has told the nation's top judge how her life has "changed dramatically" as a result of her ordeal.
The victim, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was raped and molested by Billy Bennett as she made her way home after an evening with friends.
Bennett, 22, of Great Fox Meadow, was jailed for nine years at Chelmsford Crown Court last September, after admitting three counts of rape, one of sexual assault and another of kidnap.
He is now challenging his sentence at London's Criminal Appeal Court, with his lawyers arguing it was "excessive" for his crimes. His legal team says the fact his victim was allowed to elaborate on her victim impact statement by speaking to the judge sentencing him, created "unfairness" in his case.
However, addressing the Lord Chief Justice, Lord Judge, and two senior colleagues, the victim said she felt the only way to articulate the full extent of her ordeal was in person.
She said: "I wanted to read the statement out in court because I feel it gave me the opportunity to get across that this is about people – it is not just words on paper.
"I am no longer an adult, but a dependent child."
The victim, who was praised for her "courage" by Lord Judge, said she is now unable to go out in the dark and sees every stranger as a potential threat.
She added: "I want to be able to deal with this, I want to move on, but I simply don't know how."
Bennett approached the 26-year-old victim in Chelmsford in his Ford Focus as she made her way home.
He threatened to stab her with a knife and, although the victim never saw a weapon, she believed he had one and was terrified.
She was then subjected to a sexual assault, before being driven to the former St John's Hospital site, in Wood Street, where further sex attacks took place.
The following day Bennett handed himself in to police and was arrested and charged.
His lawyers told the Appeal Court he had taken cocaine before the attack and, when he realised what he had done, he felt "nothing but remorse and self-loathing" at the harm he had caused.
In a test case, they argued the current system of victim impact statements could create "unfairness" to offenders.
Arguing Bennett's sentence was over the top, his barrister, Pavlos Panayi QC, questioned whether the victim should have been given the chance to elaborate on her statement by speaking to the judge in open court.
Mr Panayi said Bennett was "left at a disadvantage" because there were factors raised during the victim's testimony to which his lawyers did not get the opportunity to respond.
Lord Judge, sitting with Mr Justice Simon and Mr Justice Irwin, reserved judgement on the appeal – which is being heard with other cases that raise similar issues on victims' rights – until an unspecified later date.
