A woman has spoken of the devastation of being sexually assaulted in her own home when her attacker forced his way in.

The victim was forced to the floor and Jamie Liddle carried out a serious sexual attack on her while her children were sleeping upstairs in their home.

Teesside Crown Court heard how the defendant locked the door and threw the key across the room as soon as he managed to get into the house and he grabbed her mobile phone when she attempted to record his attack.

Following the sexual assault, the 30-year-old attempted to go upstairs in the property but the victim managed to get him out of the house, find her keys and lock her attacker outside.

Paul Abrahams, prosecuting, said the defendant realised the enormity of what he had done when he bumped into someone he knew as he left the scene and said ‘I have f***ed up. I am going to jail’.

He added: “She didn’t know how long it (the sexual assault) lasted but it was about five minutes. She said she was quiet because she didn’t want to wake the kids up and he just kept going.”

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In a victim impact statement, the woman said she had been left devastated by the sexual assault on her in her own home.

She added: “He has made me feel like I can’t go on; he has made me feel like I don’t want to be here.”

Liddle, of Eastbourne Road, Darlington, pleaded guilty to assault by penetration following the events in the early hours of September 19 last year.

Ian West, in mitigation, urged the judge to issue a suspended sentence for his client after he expressed remorse for his actions and was of previous good character.

“He knows that he has messed up due to a drunken few minutes of stupidity which he immediately regretted,” he said. “He can’t explain why he did what he did in those mad few minutes whilst in drink.”

Judge Timothy Stead told the defendant he would be failing in his public duty if he didn’t immediately lock him up.

“The offence was committed in circumstances where you made a forced entry into her home and some violence had been used,” he said.

Liddle was jailed for three years and four months for the attack.

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