RAPE TRIAL: Swansea man jailed for 16 years after attack on vulnerable woman who later died

A Swansea man has been jailed for 16 years for raping and assaulting a vulnerable woman he had met hours earlier — and for stealing her dog.

Dominik Szymanski, 47, attacked the woman at his flat on Matthew Street before dragging her out of the property and leaving her in a lift, Swansea Crown Court heard.

The day after she gave evidence against him at his trial, the woman was found dead. An inquest has yet to establish how she died.

Szymanski, who denied the offences, was convicted by a jury of rape and assault occasioning actual bodily harm following a 10-day trial. He later admitted stealing her dog.

The court heard the pair had met for the first time in Swansea city centre on 2 September last year. Both had their dogs with them, and they began talking before going back to his nearby flat.

There, Szymanski subjected the woman to a prolonged attack. He was caught on CCTV in the block of flats dragging her from the property and putting her into a lift.

In the days afterwards, he kept her dog and arranged to sell it. The animal was eventually returned to her.

In a statement read to the court by the woman’s mother, she described her daughter as a devoted animal lover who had looked “broken” after the attack and the loss of her pet.

She said it was only after the dog’s safe return that her daughter began to think about herself and what had happened to her.

The mother said her daughter had worked hard to tackle addiction issues and had drawn up a list of things she dreamed of doing in life.

She said that, whatever a court might find, she believed Szymanski’s actions had led to her daughter’s death. “In my eyes, his actions killed my child,” she said.

Sentencing, Judge Geraint Walters said the facts of the case were “disturbing” and that Szymanski had seen the woman as “a vulnerable individual who he could take advantage of.”

The judge said he had found her to be a “most compelling and honest witness” despite her difficulties over the years with drink and drugs.

He said he could not say the woman had taken her own life as a result of what she had been through, and the timing of her death was “particularly sad.” He told Szymanski: “What you did to her had a profound emotional effect on her.”

The court heard Szymanski had previous convictions. They included an assault on a former partner, whom he pushed down steps after begging her to take him back before attacking her car, and a battery and an assault on a police officer, during which he repeatedly kicked a man who was on the ground and then pushed the constable who arrested him.

He was given an extended 16-year sentence as a dangerous offender, made up of 12 years in custody and a four-year licence period.

He will have to serve two-thirds of the custodial term before he can apply for release, and it will be for the Parole Board to decide whether he is safe to be freed. He will be a registered sex offender for life.

Detective Constable Claire Davies, of South Wales Police, described it as a “prolonged and significant attack” by a “truly despicable offender against a vulnerable woman who had little means of defending herself.”

She said that, although the victim was no longer able to see justice done in court, the outcome was of great relief to her family and friends, who had seen Szymanski held accountable. She added that the force hoped cases like it reassured victims of sexual abuse that they would be listened to and treated with dignity and respect.

If you have been affected by any of the issues in this article, the Samaritans can be contacted free on 116 123, or by email at jo@samaritans.org.

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