Note: This story is being republished from September 2013.

A British man, Richard Thomas, 27, was convicted of raping a sleeping woman and has been informed he may have contracted HIV from her. He received a sentence of five years and four months in prison for the crime, which occurred in the victim’s home. Thomas claimed he was unaware that the woman was ill and reportedly collapsed upon hearing the news.

On the night of the assault, Thomas admitted to heavy drinking and using drugs, including cocaine and ecstasy. He stated he could not remember much of the incident but believed the woman’s account. According to police, Thomas entered the woman’s home uninvited and assaulted her while she was asleep after she had taken a sleeping pill.

Prosecutor Harry Pepper noted that the victim was frozen in fear during the attack. Thomas’s lawyer, Virginia Hayton, mentioned that he acknowledged the woman’s truthfulness, saying, “If she says I have done it, I have done it.” It remains unclear if Thomas knew the victim prior to the assault.

Judge Mark Brown sentenced Thomas to five years and four months in prison and placed him on the Sex Offenders Register for the serious crime. Hayton described Thomas as distressed over the incident, highlighting his history of drug and alcohol abuse, which began at a young age.

Thomas was awaiting the results of an HIV test after being informed of the potential exposure. It was uncertain whether he had contracted the virus. Hayton remarked that the situation was a consequence of Thomas’s actions, stating, “It’s his own fault. If he’d not committed this offense he would not have placed himself in this position.”

Sources: BBC, The Telegraph, Mirror