Lucy Spraggan's rapist was deported after serving four years of 10-year sentence
The X Factor star Lucy Spraggan's rapist was deported back to India after serving four years of his ten-year sentence behind bars for the despicable attack.
The singer was raped by former hotel porter Soby John after a night celebrating fellow contestant Rylan Clark's 25th birthday at the Mayfair nightclub Mahiki, which was attended by the X Factor crew.
At the time, she and Rylan were staying at the Hilton London Metropole when the ordeal happened while she was filming the show in 2012.
John, who was 24 at the time of the sickening assault, snuck into the then-20-year-old singer's hotel room while she slept using a staff key card and attacked her.
Lucy recently explained that she passed out and was taken back to the hotel by a member of the production team, where a hotel porter offered to help get Lucy to her room.
X Factor's Honey G spills on strict fitness regime after two stone weight loss
The singer was raped by a former hotel porter who snuck into her room using a key card (PA)The porter then flipped the security latch on her door as they left to prevent it from locking behind them.
Rylan later went to check on her and made sure her door was locked before he left. The porter returned later to attack her and had to use a traceable keycard due to the door then being locked.
Lucy's attacker was arrested and later jailed for 10 years in April 2013. According to MailOnline, he was sent back to India on January 30, 2017. In a statement shared with the publication, a spokesperson for the Home Office said: "'Foreign nationals who commit crimes here in the UK will face the full force of the law, including deportation at the earliest opportunity for those eligible."
A Home Office spokesperson told the Mirror: “Foreign nationals who commit crimes here in the UK will face the full force of the law, including deportation at the earliest opportunity for those eligible.”
During the court hearing, the barrister defending Soby's claimed it was a "single foolish act" as he had a clean record.
Judge McCreath slammed the claims, saying: "I recognise you are relatively young and you were brought up in a different culture from the culture where this terrible offence took place.
"But whatever cultural values you were brought up with, I do not for a moment accept they condone the act of non-consensual intercourse with a woman who was so drunk as to be insensible."
Lucy recently opened up about how the attack impacted the next decade of her life.
Lucy told The Guardian: "I woke up the next day with this sense of sheer dread. I don’t think I’ve ever felt that level of confusion since. I knew that I’d been raped, but I could not process that. So I put my clothes on and went into autopilot."
Despite the production team calling the police and an arrest being made quickly, Lucy said she didn't think they were prepared to deal with the situation.
X Factor star's dramatic transformation after incredible 4stone weight loss
Soby John was deported back to India after four years in prison (central news)
Lucy recently opened up about how the attack impacted the next decade of her life (Getty Images)Lucy was given financial and medical support in the immediate aftermath of the crime, but she said she wasn't supported after the trial.
She said: "No one ever contacted me to ask if I was OK. No one called or emailed when the trial was over and he was convicted. No one offered me rehabilitation or ongoing mental health treatment. I was on my own."
The singer appeared on BBC Breakfast recently and was overcome with emotions as she recalled X Factor boss Simon Cowell apologising to her after he learned of the attack.
She explained how she thought Syco, Simon's company, would be the "most aggressive" but was surprised to receive a call from them telling her Simon wanted to speak to her.
The musician recalled what he told her: "'Lucy, before you or I say anything else, the first thing I need to tell you is that I am sorry'."
Lucy broke down in tears as she went on to say: "It makes me emotional...because no one else said sorry. He wasn't even on [the show during] my year – he wasn't even a judge – and he as a human being gave me everything I needed in two words."
A spokesperson for Freemantle who produced the former talent show said: "The serious sexual assault suffered by Lucy Spraggan in October 2012 was a truly horrific criminal act for which the perpetrator, who was not connected with the programme, was rightfully prosecuted and imprisoned. Anyone should feel safe when they are sleeping in a hotel room - and it is abhorrent to think that a hotel porter abused that trust in such a vile way.
"To our knowledge, the assault was an event without precedent in the UK television industry. Whilst we believed throughout that we were doing our best to support Lucy in the aftermath of the ordeal, as Lucy thinks we could have done more, we must therefore recognise this. For everything Lucy has suffered, we are extremely sorry.
"Since then, we have done our very best to learn lessons from these events and improve our aftercare processes. Whilst we have worked hard to try and protect Lucy's lifetime right to anonymity, we applaud her strength and bravery now that she has chosen to waive that right."
* If you've been the victim of sexual assault, you can access help and resources via www.rapecrisis.org.uk or by calling the national telephone helpline on 0808 802 9999
Read more similar news:
Comments:
comments powered by Disqus
