Royal Army Medical Corps officer Daniel Howard , 29, was jailed last week for seven years for rape after the bridesmaid reported the case to the police.
Her former best friend whom she had known since their University days said:
“I was meant to be a bridesmaid at her wedding. We were meant to have children at similar times and raise them together.
“I only said something in the first place to try to protect April.
“I couldn’t have stood in church on her wedding day knowing what had happened and that it would most probably happen again.”Revealing her heartbreak in a victim impact statement, the woman added:
“Our whole friendship group has become divided when I most needed my close friends.
“I went travelling around Asia by myself before all this – now I’m scared to live by myself in England.”
His terrified victim, a professional woman now aged 26, tried to call her own boyfriend after the attack but his phone was switched off.
She went to hospital alone, where nurses contacted police.
The woman spoke of how her boyfriend had been like “a rock” as she struggled to cope, but killed himself because he couldn't bear to think of what happened to her and that he was unavailable when she needed him most.
She said:“He felt partly responsible for what had happened, he had turned his phone off that night. I couldn’t get hold of him.
“He never forgave himself for that. He always worried every time I went somewhere and wouldn’t sleep if I went out, it put a strain on us.”
“He committed suicide a few months after we broke up.
“Even though there were multiple things contributing to this it had quite an effect on him.
“He was always my rock and supported me through everything. I feel this is partly my fault. The rape made me a nightmare girlfriend. He shouldn’t have had to deal with anything like this.”When Howard was arrested, he denied the allegation and tried to explain how his DNA was found on intimate swabs from his victim which was lame.
He claimed she had found a sex toy he had used weeks earlier, hidden in a drawer in the room where she stayed and had used it to leave the evidence, acting out of jealousy over his relationship with his bride, April.
His claims were dismissed by the jury at Teesside crown court, who took just 90 minutes to convict him.
In her victim statement, the former bridesmaid-tobe- said:
“I’m really upset my friendship with April no longer exists.
“April was my best friend from Uni. I can’t actually believe she doesn’t believe me. A person I really cared for and who cared for me has been turned against me. I can’t believe April is a witness, fighting against me when we always fought together and for each other.”
"He loves April and April loves him so why this happened I will never know.
“I blamed myself until I had counselling. I thought the playsuit I wore was too provocative, but any 24-year-old would have worn it. Then I thought maybe I looked too similar to April.
“I never worried and would dress up in ridiculous outfits at Uni with April, we didn’t care. I’m so conscious of other people’s perceptions now.”
She added: “I was ready to buy my own house but don’t feel confident enough to be by myself.
“It sounds silly but I am frightened someone will come and get me again and no one will know. I had a job I loved, a strong relationship, a bright future.
“Now I feel damaged and broken. My sister is a lot more protective of me – I’m supposed to be her big sister.”
56 comments:
Igwegwegwe
See story..!
Congratulations to them
Too bad.
~D great anonymous!
Ekwulekwu
You can imagine
Some friends tho'
Such is life, one man's poison is another man's meat.
its obvious her friend is desperate to get married, I hope the man doesn't rape her too.
~BONARIO~says so via NOKIA LUMIA
Life still continues babe.
The story don't correspond with the headline
Well, women ll always ve the advantage when it comes to the issue of rape. I don't support rape neither do I believe what this bridesmaid said. How can your best friend bf leave his gf in their room and come to your own room to rape you? Both of em were probably having an AFFAIR behind the bride's back
Ubanagum
All u need is Jesus
SHE WANT IT MORE...TOMJERRYSWIT
Quite pathetic, u see this ish girls call best female friend? That ish is rubbish, u'd care about them so much u can do anythn to protect them but when it comes to d iSsue of boyfriend/guy/man, they will throw everything away in a twinkle of an eye..-imagine getting married to sm1 that raped ur so called bff? That's trash now! It shows u don't even care about what or hw ur bff feels. Its a very sad thing.
7years is even small for †ђξ monster, they for make am 20 or so .... So others will learn.
As for me, bff chapter don close in my life, got betrayed just last week αи∂ now am reading this?
#It WiLL oNLy GeT bEttER
#iT mUsT EnD iN prAiSe
What a fairy tale. Jor oh
Some ppl dnt even understand wat friendship is all about
Poor headline.... @linda, pls learn to reconstrct Headlines, this is what i notice in most of your stories. Let your headline answer the most imortant question in the 5Ws & H. In news writings.
Nice job
Bastard,let him rot in jail
hahaha...Na wa O, isn't je supposed to be arrested ?
Hmmmmm...
People can indeed live in bondage of their past lives for no just reason. Biko let d past b by gone in ur lives for its insignificant in ur lives.
Na u sabi, just hope u not lying.
She's not ur true bestie....
He is a dog. And should be treated as a dog. Rot in jail dogie
It's people like you that make it difficult for rape victims to speak up,fear of being victimised the more...
a.k.a EDWIN CHINEDU AZUBUKO said...
.
Damn..... This is really painfull though no doubt.....
.
.
***CURRENTLY IN JUPITER***
That bride is a foolish friend
That bride is a foolish friend
You don't understand it then
Hmmmm
Sad story
Ladies - friendships and relationships. I feel the pain of the bride because a similar thing once happened to me only it wasn't rape, my friends man just came on to me..after I told her he accussed me of being a bitch and that I came on to him and she believed it, it put a strain on our friendship
Every mallam with im kettle. Linda take note!
Every mallam with im kettle. Linda take note!
Every mallam with im kettle. Linda take note!
That guy was drunk and went to live his fantasies.
Are u minding d bafoon.
He never tot of how his semen was in d girls private.
sad indeed. A beast will always be one, a day of reckoning will come.
The groom is evil, hw can u liv ur bride nd go rape her bff in d next room, may u never see d day light again rot in jail Bastard.
so much for friendship
Just 7 years? Not long enough! The bride surprised me sha. Is it that she so desperate to be called a married woman?
#TeamBlessed#
Just 7 years? Not long enough! The bride surprised me sha. Is it that she so desperate to be called a married woman?
#TeamBlessed#
Huh...Can u read?
Do you ever reason at all?
Something that will follow her psychologically for the rest of her life, you are acting like she's intentionally 'living' in bondage.
Please keep shut on what you don't know
A rape victim should be ready with regards to your statement @fireworks. Adequate probe is required to determine if it is false or not. As since in the UK false rape case by a Nigerian lady.
Some gals are jes stupid..How can u marry a man that rapped ur bestfriend while u wer asleep in the next room..There are worst things to come in that marriage.
👆🏾tell him please its just so sad what comes out of people's mouths
@fireworks its people like that dont reason properly .. how could he have thought of raping her next door to his bride .. the story doesnt add up .. they were definitely having an affair
Her friend's desperation to get married caused all of this. If she had done something no one would have died. So much for having a bff. That's y i prefer to be my own bff. Life is crazy!
Lol. Orishirishi
I thought I was the only one who noticed that linda writes rubbish headline . She fails to adequately summarize into a short headline . What is woman best friend marries man who raped her
It should be BETRAYAL: GROOM RAPES MAID OF HONOR, BRIDE STILL WEDS GROOM
Is it that hard ? Then employ an English student
And to the story .. The man should be jailed for ever . We women are our worst enemies !! How can the bride still go ahead to marry him?so far doubt has been castes it's enough to have walked away ?!
The friend is mean jealous and selfish. Your boyfriend killed himself because you were raped.. she just wants her friend to be single too.. what kind of talk is that.. she thinks the world revolves around her.. your boyfriend killed himself because of your attitude.. she's angry because her friend is married.. they wanted to get married together and it obviously ain't happening.. good luck to all parties involved
I beliv d bridemaid, I had a sumwot similar experience. My galfrnds hubby was makin sexual advances @me. Still in shock mayb I'll email aunty linda to share it
If the guy wanted to stay with her.. she won't have cried wolf.. so many fake rape cases.. it's sad people believe women all the time
And now she is mad because he didn't leave her.. how can you let one event affect your entire life.. her bf must have been so lame..
I find it funny that people find it hard to believe that a woman can be raped by a man when his girlfriend is just in the next room. I was a child when I was raped by the gateman at that time in the same house where my whole family lived. Sometimes even when they were at home. It wasn't easy but I'm over it now by the grace of God. I still have the memories but everyday is a fight to take my life back and live it the way I want. Rape is the worst thing you can do to a woman, it is such a deep wound that affects the very fabric of their being. This senseless act of violence can change the course of a woman's life drastically. So please don't tell me it's impossible for the woman to have been raped by that animal in that way, because it's not.
Her friend's desperation to get married caused all of this. If she had done something no one would have died. So much for having a bff. That's y i prefer to be my own bff. Life is crazy!
This is bad....
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