Rapist fails in plea to get 13-year sentence cut
A rapist who subjected a Walsall woman to a prolonged and traumatic sex attack has been told his 13-year-jail term was ‘severe’ but not too long.
Daniel Alexander James Schwersenz, 29, attacked the woman, in her 20s, and repeatedly forced himself on her during a lengthy ordeal.
Schwersenz, of St Julian Road, Caister-on-Sea, Norfolk, denied any wrongdoing and claimed the sex had been consensual.
But a jury at Wolverhampton Crown Court did not believe him and he was locked up in October last year.
Schwersenz was convicted of four rapes and other counts of causing a person to engage in sexual activity without consent.
Three senior judges, sitting at London’s Criminal Appeal Court, heard Schwersenz was living in the West Midlands prior to the attack.
Lord Justice Hamblen, Mrs Justice McGowan and Judge John Wait were told he bought a house in Caister and moved there shortly before his arrest.
Pleading for a cut in his sentence, his lawyers argued his punishment was too tough.
But Lord Justice Hamblen slammed Schwersenz as ‘glib and simply lacking in emotions except in relation to his own interests’.
He added: “It is said that, whilst there were a number of offences committed, it was a single course of conduct and the violence used was not serious enough to cause serious injury.
"There was no weapon or serious threats of violence. It is said that, to impose a sentence of 13 years, was to go too far.”
The judge concluded: “While it can be said that this sentence was severe, it cannot be said that it is wrong in principle or manifestly excessive.”
Applications to introduce fresh evidence, and for permission to appeal against conviction, were also refused.
