Man jailed for 13 years for attempting to rape a woman whilst she slept

Amro Badawi, age 28, of Mandela Way, Southampton, has been sentenced to 13 years in jail for attempted rape and sexual assault by penetration of a 32-year-old woman whilst she was asleep. 

Badawi denied the offences which included one count of rape, one count of attempted rape and one count of sexual assault by penetration, but following a five day trial in December, a jury at Southampton Crown Court found him guilty of attempted rape and sexual assault by penetration.

The court heard that in 2018, the woman was working at a friend’s restaurant in Southampton and when she worked late, would stay the night in the flat above the restaurant. Badawi, who also worked at the restaurant, rented a room in the same flat.

During the evening of Friday 10 August 2018, the woman had been at work, finishing at around 12.45am on Saturday, 11 August. After she finished, she went to a bar in Southampton with other members of staff, including Badawi.

At around 3.30am, the woman got a taxi back to the flat where she went to sleep.

A short time later, she was woken by Badawi shouting from outside of the flat. Realising she had locked him out by leaving her key in the door, she got up and let him in before going back to her room to sleep. 

Sometime between 4am and 5am, the woman awoke to a man lying behind her, sexually assaulting her. The woman froze in fear before the man then attempted to rape her.

She managed to shout and push the man away to get him off her and it was once the man had stood up that she saw it was Badawi. He then left the room returning to his.

The woman then told the police what happened to her.

On 18 December 2020, Badawi was convicted of the attempted rape and sexual assault by penetration by a jury at Southampton Crown Court.

He was found not guilty of rape.

Detective Constable Sue Hampton from Operation Amberstone said “The victim was asleep when Badawi went into her room, removed her underwear and proceeded to sexually assault her before attempting to rape her for his own self-gratification.

“Badawi is an opportunist and a danger to women and I would like to commend the victim for her courage in disclosing what happened that night and for giving evidence in court so that he could be brought to justice.

“I welcome today’s sentence and hope that it brings some closure to the victim and allows her to move on in her life.

“I also hope it encourages other victims of rape and serious sexual offences to come forward and report what happened.

“In cases such as these, we work in partnership with Independent Sexual Violence Advocate Services to ensure adequate support is available victims throughout investigations. We hope that the strength of this partnership working alongside convictions like this, encourage victims to come forward and report their experiences to us.”