By Adele Paiardini, Civic Reporter
Following a four day trial at Isleworth Crown Court, Thomas Mangar, 36, from Hillingdon, was found guilty on Monday, March 8th of raping a woman in her late 20’s in a Park in Hayes. He will be sentenced on Monday, April 26th at Isleworth Crown Court.
After spending the evening with her friends on May 11th last year, the woman was unable to recall how she came to be in Hitherbroom Park in Hayes.
At around 14:45 the following day, the victim awoke in the park to find the man raping her. She started to scream, and an unknown man helped her and alerted a member of the public.
During the trial, the witness claimed he heard the victim screaming and saw her pushing and hitting her attacker. He explained that before he came to the aid of the woman he caught up with Manger who had told him he was just trying to help the victim, believing she was having an heart attack.
The witness saw Manger again around Hitherbroom Park and called the police, who then arrested him.
Photographic evidence played a key role in the case, as Manger’s phone included a series of selfies taken with the body of the victim laying on the ground. Moreover, the attacker’s DNA was found in a condom recovered from the scene.
Detective Constable Alan Wong, the investigating officer, declared: ‘We are pleased to have secured this verdict which will, I hope, give the victim some measure of comfort and closure as well as encourage other victims of sexual assault to come forward to police and be assured that we will thoroughly investigate.”
According to research published by Statista Research Department in February, 2021, rape offences have dramatically increased since 2013 increasing to over 63.3 thousand in 2018/2019.
If you have been a victim of rape or sexual assault you can call 999 or 101 to report the incident or to seek advice. You can also report it online through the following link https://www.met.police.uk/ro/report/ocr/af/how-to-report-a-crime/.