‘Predatory sex offender’ jailed for raping elderly woman in her home

A “predatory sex offender” who raped an elderly woman after breaking into her home in the middle of the night has been jailed.

Brady Hickman, 33, staked out his victim’s address and watched through a window as she fell asleep before striking.

He sneaked inside the pensioner’s home and stripped naked in the hallway before entering her bedroom.

Gloucester Crown Court was told the disabled woman, in her 70s, awoke in the early hours of November 11 last year to see Hickman standing in her doorway.

James Tucker, prosecuting, said: “She went to bed at about 1.15am and took off her glasses.

“Little did she know she was being watched by Mr Hickman – a predatory sex offender and burglar.

“He had been seen from the evening before lurking in the shadows. It is quite clear he knew how vulnerable she was.

“He waited until she was dozing and gained access through a window left open to let some air in.

“He crept in and quickly removed all his clothing. She was awoken by him opening the bedroom door and seeing a naked man in the bedroom doorway.

“She couldn’t make out the details as she didn’t have her glasses on and he told her, ‘Don’t make a noise.’

“She said she wouldn’t and asked him not to hurt her.”

Mr Tucker said Hickman then raped the woman and, during the attack, told her he had been in prison.

“That was an unnecessary, threatening thing to say in the circumstances,” he said.

“She encouraged him to leave and stated he could go home now, and she lay on the bed waiting for him to go.”

The woman alerted police after she heard the front door close and, out of fear, locked herself in the bathroom until officers arrived.

In a victim impact statement, the woman said she felt “totally violated and stripped of her dignity” and has moved home.

“I have been suffering from panic attacks since it all happened, causing me to have a constant headache and dizzy spells,” she said.

“I believe I am suffering from PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) and it is affecting me in many aspects of my life. I am having flashbacks. It will take me a long time to get over what happened.”

Hickman, of Philip Street, Gloucester, had previously pleaded guilty to rape and two charges of assault by penetration.

The court was told he has previous convictions for burglary, assault and robbery and, when he was 18, he sexually assaulted a teenage girl.

Sarah Jenkins, defending, said Hickman had “demonstrated evidence of remorse”.

She added: “He accepted to the probation officer that, from the start, he entered with the intention to rape and that he had a ‘bad thought.'”

Judge Michael Cullum said Hickman is dangerous.

“On November 11, you changed the course of her life irretrievably. Life was already difficult for her,” he said.

“You had been waiting around in the area and lurking in the shadows. In my judgement, you had an intention to rape and that is quite clear from your first act of stripping naked.

“She must have feared for her life. She was entitled to feel safe in her own home. I doubt she will ever again.

“The harm you caused to her is incalculable.”

Hickman will spend up to 10 years in prison. He can apply for parole after serving two-thirds of that sentence. The remainder of his 15-year sentence will be on licence.

He was also placed on the sex offenders’ register for life and made subject of a restraining order banning him from contacting the victim directly or indirectly.

Detective Sergeant Faye Satchwell-Bennett, of Gloucestershire Police, said: “The victim has shown amazing strength and courage, and has asked us to say thank you to our officers and the community for the support she has received and for helping her to feel safe again.

“Hickman committed a horrifying sexual attack on a vulnerable victim and is clearly a threat to women.

“I am pleased to see justice has been served at court today and that he will not have access to the general public for a very long time.”