A judge freed a man he deemed a “menace to society” only for him to go on and rape an elderly woman in her own home.
Daniel Hewett attacked the 82- year-old in her bed in Hove in May this year – just seven months after a judge let him walk free.
Yesterday the 23-year-old appeared before Judge Charles Kemp at Lewes Crown Court, where he admitted the sickening rape of the woman on May 24.
The woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was so traumatised by the attack, she suffered a heart scare afterwards. She has since recovered and was described by Judge Kemp as “remarkable”.
NowThe Argus can reveal Hewett raped the woman, who managed to escape to a neighbour’s home, just seven months after appearing at the same court before Judge Michael Lawson QC, where he admitted an offence of burglary.
On October 25, Hewett appeared at Lewes Crown Court and admitted sneaking into a male pensioner’s home during the early hours of July 7, 2012, and stealing valuable royal family heirlooms.
Rehabilitation
Despite having the opportunity to jail Hewett, Judge Lawson did not.
Instead he ordered him to carry out two years’ probation and undergo drug rehabilitation.
As a 17-year-old in 2007 Hewitt was jailed for five years after slashing the eyeball of a stranger in Hove, nearly blinding him. He was released from this sentence in May 2012.
In October last year Judge Lawson said he accepted Hewett, of Davigdor Road, Hove, was a “menace” but released him into society anyway.
Judge Lawson said in October: “If you are not a danger to the public, you are certainly a menace to the public.
“If you want to spend the rest of your life in prison, doing a stretch here and a stretch there, that is your business. But not today.”
Hewett has been remanded to be sentenced on September 19 for the rape .
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