‘Dangerous’ teenager’s sex attack on girl, 14
18-YEAR-OLD LOCKED UP FOR TERRIFYING ASSAULT
A “DANGEROUS” teenager snatched a 14-year-old girl from the street, dragged her into nearby woods and sexually assaulted her.
Derby Crown Court heard how the terrified victim “thought she would be raped and killed” at the hands of Daniel Shone.
After being subjected to the brutal sex attack she managed to flee after “swearing on her mother’s life she would not tell anyone”.
But after she gave detectives a description of the 17-year-old’s distinctive facial tattoo he was arrested the following day.
In court, the girl’s devastated parents said said they felt a “complete failure” for not being able to protect their child – but said they were “extremely proud” of her bravery.
The hearing was told how Shone, now 18, had previously phoned up a Derbyshire school threatening to stab pupils and putting the establishment “in lock down”.
It was said he had been “let down by significant adults almost since the day he was born”.
Now he has been sent to a young offenders’ institution for three years.
Judge Shaun Smith QC said: “It is clear that even at the age of 18 you are a young man that presents a serious risk of serious sexual harm to females.
“I have no compulsion not to find you anything other than dangerous.”
Sarah Allen, prosecuting, said the victim was walking home from a friend’s house in Swadlincote at around 6.30pm on March 27, 2018, when she realised she was being followed by Shone.
Miss Allen said he grabbed her by the arm and started dragging her down the street but she managed to get free only to be caught a second time.
She said: “The defendant then dragged her across fields off the path and into muddy, dark, woods.
“There he sexually assaulted her and as he did so a knife fell out of his pocket.
“She swore on her mother’s life she would not tell anyone what happened and ran away to tell a friend.”
Miss Allen said the victim got home and told her father what had happened to her and the police were called.
She said: “She was able to describe the distinctive tattoo on his face and that she thought she was going to be raped and killed.
“The defendant was arrested and told officers that everything that happened was consensual and that the victim was ‘stitching him up.’”
But Shone, formerly of Church Gresley and more recently of Nant Road, Connah’s Quay, Wales, later pleaded guilty to sexual assault and possessing a knife.
The hearing was told how a number of mental health assessments had been carried out on him.
In a statement, released after sentencing, the victim’s family said: “This event is something that we can never forget and as parents, we felt a complete failure for not being able to protect our child.
“It hurts to think that she will have to relive and remember this traumatic event in the future.
“There is no sentence that can ever take back what happened but we are grateful that justice has been done and that this offender has now been sentenced and taken off the street.
“Our family has undergone a year of pain for not knowing what the outcome would be and this has had a life changing impact on all of us.
“We wish to express our sincere gratitude to the local police for the quick response to the initial call and the ongoing investigation into this instance. “They – especially Gavin Owen – have provided continuous support to us all throughout this whole traumatic event on our lives.
“We would also like to thank the community for their involvement in quick apprehension of the offender, their continued support, the support of our local church and the support of our employers.
“We also acknowledge that our daughter was able to provide an excellent description of the offender, which again led to the quick capture of this individual and we are extremely proud of her.
“We can now focus on helping her to move on from this.”
DC Gavin Owen, who led the investigation, said: “Daniel Shone is a dangerous young man.
“The sentence he has been given will make us all safer and give him the opportunity to access the support that he needs to address his offending behaviour.
“Thankfully incidents like this are very rare. With the help of the local community we were able to quickly identify Shone and arrest him.
“The victim of this crime has been incredibly brave not only during this incident to remain calm but also in the time since. I hope that she and her family can now put all of this behind them and I wish her every success for the future.”
Houzla Rawat, for Shone, said: “He has been let down by a number of significant adults almost from the day he was born.”