AN AMMANFORD man gave a woman a cocktail of drugs and sexually assaulted her after she fell unconscious.

Julian Dickenson appeared in the dock at Swansea Crown Court charged with two offences of sexual assault by penetration.

Prosecutor Dyfed Thomas told the court that the victim visited Dickenson’s house on May 8, 2021.

Mr Thomas said the defendant had previously expressed a sexual interest in the victim.

The victim took a cocktail of drugs – including heroin and cannabis – and fell unconscious.

In the early hours of May 9, she awoke to a “vibrating feeling from her vagina”, Mr Thomas said.

“The defendant was kissing her neck and holding on to a vibrator in her vagina.”

She confronted Dickenson, but because she was still under the influence of the drugs, she moved to a bedroom and slept there before leaving the house later that day.

The victim went to her ex-partner’s house, who described her as “bawling her eyes out”, Mr Thomas said.

They both went back to Dickenson’s address to confront him, and he admitted sexually assaulting the victim with a sex toy and with his finger.

When he was arrested by the police, Dickenson said: "I don’t know if she was conscious or not" and that he had "wandering hands", Mr Thomas told the court.

He was released on bail following a police interview on May 10, 2021, and made full admissions in an interview in March 2022.

In a statement read to the court by Mr Thomas, the victim – who is now clean from heroin – said that the incident had left her “very wary of men”.

“Now I’m completely broken and unable to move forward,” she said.

“I started to spiral out of control and hit the drugs harder.

“The defendant knew I was vulnerable and he still took advantage.”

There had been concerns over Dickenson’s fitness to plead and stand trial, but when he was deemed fit, he pleaded guilty to two charges of sexual assault by penetration.

Hannah George, in mitigation, said the defendant has a “complex forensic and mental health history”, exacerbated by his misuse of drugs.

She said the defendant suffered from “childhood trauma” and had sustained a brain injury aged 13.

“The defendant’s guilty plea does reflect a degree of remorse,” she said.

“He is sorry for how he behaved towards [the victim].”

Ms George highlighted the delay in the case, with the offence taking place almost three years ago and Dickenson admitting offences in interview two years ago.

Judge Catherine Richards described the delay in the case as “wholly unimpressive”.

Dickenson, 53, of Harold Street in Ammanford, was jailed for concurrent sentences of four years and four months for each offence.

He must register as a sex offender indefinitely, and the victim was granted a restraining order against the defendant for eight years.