British man who raped US backpacker while she was sleeping at Sydney house party jailed for two years
Richardson, who pleaded not guilty, said in defence he mistook victim for friend, whom he tried to hug, but left once he realised his mistake
A British man who raped a sleeping backpacker at a Sydney house party has been jailed.
Scott Harry Richardson, 25, will spend at least two years and three months in prison.
He attacked a 23-year-old American backpacker while she was sleeping in 2015 at a shared house in the suburb of Redfern.
A court heard how Richardson went into the room where the victim was and took off her shorts and underwear.
She awoke to find him on top off her.
When she asked him to stop, he said "This is what you want, isn't it? This is what you want?" the court was told.
Other people in the house told the court they heard her shout: "I can't believe this happened. I was raped."
Richardson, who pleaded not guilty, said in his defence he entered the room and thought the victim was a friend, whom he tried to hug, but left once he realised his mistake.
"The offender knew from the outset that the victim was not consenting. There was no effort to obtain consent," Judge Chris Hoy said on sentencing Richardson, the Sydney Morning Herald reported.
"His conduct was a disgraceful intrusion interfering with the intimate and personal integrity of the victim. He forced himself upon her breaching the ordinary and proper boundaries of moral and physical interaction between men and women."