A university student who dreamed of becoming a solicitor has
been jailed for slapping a woman in the face with his penis after she fell
asleep at a house party.
John Luke Dale, 21, stripped down to his boxers and shoved
his manhood in the young woman's face before hitting her across her cheek with
his penis at the party in Nottingham.
The criminology undergraduate's actions only came to light
when a friend, who filmed the entire act on his mobile phone, showed the video
to his workmates.
He admitted sexual assault and was jailed for nine months at
Nottingham Crown Court last month.
Details of the incident were revealed this week after
lawyers tried to overturn the sentence at the Court of Appeal.
However, on Tuesday, three top judges rejected the case.
Refusing the appeal, Judge Alistair McCreath, sitting with
Lord Justice McCombe and Mr Justice Spencer, said the offence had caused the
woman 'obvious and significant distress'.
'The sentence which the judge imposed cannot possibly be
wrong in principle.
'She struck a balance between the mitigating and aggravating
factors and exercised her judgement in a manner which was open to her.'
In a victim impact statement, the woman, who cannot be named
for legal reasons, said the incident had made her feel violated.
She said: 'It makes me think that it could still be out
there in someone's possession and that anyone could have it.
'Knowing that it could exist petrifies me.'
Trevor Burke QC, defending, argued that Dale's sentence was
too tough and claimed that the young man had received no sexual gratification
from the act.
He said: 'It was a stupid drunken incident that lasted a
very brief period of time, where he slaps his flaccid penis on the head of a
sleeping woman.
'It was extremely unpleasant, but not driven by any sexual
motivation on his part.'
Mr Burke said the student had done everything he could to
make up for the offence, vowing to keep away from the university until his
victim had graduated.
He had moved back to his family home, where he was being
kept under curfew by his parents and working for his dad to earn money to pay
the victim compensation.
Mr Burke said that potentially losing his studies and hopes
of a career as a solicitor were additional punishments which meant a prison
sentence could have been avoided.
Source-Dailymail
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