Man’s rapist is sent to prison
FOUR YEARS’ JAIL FOR ATTACK
A FORMER prison service worker and bus driver has been jailed for raping a young man.
Glen Russell carried out the attack in May, last year, following a get-together as the Covid lockdown restrictions were slightly easing.
The 63-year-old had been drinking alcohol at alongside the victim before going on to commit the crime in County Durham.
Russell, of Stanley, appeared at Durham Crown Court last week to be sentenced for a single charge of rape.
The court was told that as Russell was committing the offence, he told the victim
“I’m going to rape you”, and said “you wanted this”, afterwards.
The victim, who was over the age of 18 at the time of the offence, contacted the police soon after the incident, and Russell was arrested the next day, with forensic samples being taken.
In police interview, he “denied anything improper”.
In a victim statement, the man said the incident left him battling mental health issues and “struggling with intimacy”.
Jamie Adams, defending Russell, said: “This was a one-off instance of its kind. It is a very unhappy and sad thing to have happened.”
Mr Adams said that Russell had lost his job as a bus driver when the offence came to light, and had previously worked for “17 years in the prison service”.
He added Russell was of previous good character and still had the support of his long-term wife.
Judge James Adkin, the Recorder of Durham, jailed Russell for four years and one month.
A lifetime restraining order was also imposed and Russell will be on the sex offenders’ register for life.