'I thought it was my fault' are the harrowing words of a young Coventry girl who was raped by a man she trusted. Leah* was just 15 years old when she was preyed on by Andrew Williamson.
In January 2023, Leah attended a party with a friend, and they had both been laughing, joking, and enjoying themselves. But everything changed when Williamson arrived later that evening.
Williamson began acting inappropriately toward Leah, making unwanted sexual advances that she repeatedly rejected. Sickeningly, as he raped the then 15-year-old, she recalls him saying: 'I know it is wrong, but I just cannot help it.'
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Speaking to CoventryLive, Leah said: "We were just talking about problems in our life, and he was talking about how drugs had affected his family, with him doing drugs. I went into the kitchen, and he followed me in there, and then that is when he first kissed me, and I was really taken aback by this, and I did not see it coming.
"So I left the kitchen, and then I went to go and tell my friend, but then he came in the room, and I stood up and left it because obviously I did not know what to do, and I was sitting on the couch, and he was sitting next to me, and then every time she would leave the room, he would touch my leg, kiss me and everything."
Leah and her friend headed to bed in the early hours of the morning, only to be followed by Williamson. She recalled: "I was falling asleep on the couch at the time, and he was saying: 'Just leave her there' but we went upstairs, and I went to bed."
Recounting the horrific ordeal she endured, Leah said: "I said: 'Stop, it hurts' so he did stop, but then he left after that, and I just went upstairs. I thought it was all my fault at the time, and I was telling my sister about it, and then she basically told me it was rape, so then I was a bit more shocked."
Williamson was found guilty by a jury at Warwick Crown Court in September 2023. He was sentenced to 10 years in jail.
Recalling the emotions she experienced as it happened, Leah said: "I have always thought that when I am in those situations, I would always do a lot more, but obviously, because of how I was, I was more shocked than anything. I just felt like I did not even have a voice when he was doing it because I did not say anything."
Leah shared that the traumatic experience continues to affect her emotional wellbeing. She said: "I still have crying moments and things when I am alone, like I will sit there and think about what happened."
But the now 18-year-old is gradually finding the strength to move forward. Leah said: "I think it does definitely get better, but when it happened, I thought it was never going to get better. It was awful. I am just trying to get on with my life, and I am doing well."
*Names have been changed.
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