Jailed: Man who sexually assaulted woman and left her half naked in garden

A York man who took a drunk woman’s clothes off before performing a sex act on her then leaving her half-naked in her own front garden has been jailed.

Louis Andrew Harkus met the woman in a pub in August 2019. They walked home together, before Harkus stripped the woman from the waist down and sexually assaulted her.

Afterwards, he left her lying in her own front garden with her clothes still off, “for all the world to see”.

York Crown Court watched as the victim tearfully said that when she woke up the next day, she realised what had happened, but she didn’t know who had sexually assaulted her and that “was one of the worst days of my life”.

She now has a panic alarm fitted in her house, which is directly linked to the police station. She carries a panic alarm on her 24 hours a day and is on anti-depressants and medication for her anxiety over what happened.

The woman said her family have been hugely affected by what’s happened, particularly her mum, who “gets very anxious if I go out, especially in the evening”.

Man running away

Prosecutor David Bradshaw said the woman had been on a night out in a pub with her boyfriend and that she remembered nothing about it, except waking up on a sofa with a paramedic talking to her.

Harkus had initially been charged for rape, but this was changed to sexual assault after forensic experts contacted the court. The court heard that Harkus’ semen was found on his victim’s underwear.

Mr Bradshaw said that one of the victim’s neighbours saw a man running away from the garden in the early hours of that morning.

Harkus, 28, from Sanderson Court in the Chapelfields area of York, pleaded guilty to sexual assault.

Defending Harkus, Glenn Parsons said the victim asked his client to walk her home and Harkus thought she was interested in having sex.

Mr Parsons said both the victim and his client had had a lot to drink, but Harkus accepted she was too drunk to consent to his actions.

Mr Parsons said Harkus had learning difficulties and that he “needed help with his thinking and with his approach. He needs courses to make him less of a risk to the public in the future”.

‘Degrading and wicked’

Judge Sean Morris told Harkus: “You removed her lower clothing. She was completely out of it.

“She would have been in full view of her neighbours. Having satisfied yourself, you then just trotted off, leaving her half-naked in front of her own house for all the world to see.

“It would be outrageous if you weren’t locked up. She would have been in full view of her neighbours, this is not something she would have done if she was in proper control of her faculties.”

Jailing Harkus for 17 months, the judge said: “That is degrading and humiliating for your victim. It is a wicked offence.”