A vulnerable woman took her own life after finding a video of her boyfriend raping and sexually assaulting her on his phone while playing a game.
Edward Weeks, 33, from Cwmbran, South Wales, recorded the sick attack on motion-sensitive cameras in his bedroom with Tina Lewis unaware of what was happening until she inadvertently discovered the footage…Click Here To Continue Reading>> …Click Here To Continue Reading>>
Weeks’ attack took place on December 28 last year while the victim was asleep.
Ms Lewis – who also suffered with ADHD and emotional problems – told her social worker after finding the video.
However, the investigation process became too much for her and she died by suicide.
Matthew Cobbe, prosecuting, said: ‘Ms Lewis suffered from autism, emotional dysregulation, self-harm, and at times [was] suicidal. She presented as childlike and she carried a special teddy bear with her.’
Setting out the chronology of events, he told the court how Weeks let Ms Lewis stay at his home on the day of the attack.
The prosecutor explained Weeks then let her use his phone to play a game the next day.
She was able to find the video because the cameras were synched to Weeks’ phone. She then confided in her friend before a social worker reported the incident to Gwent Police on December 30.
Mr Cobbe said: ‘As a result the defendant was arrested and interviewed. The defendant [said] in an interview that he had had sex with Ms Lewis as she slept. He described in detail his movements and said Ms Lewis stayed asleep throughout.
‘He also confirmed he did not disclose it to Ms Lewis the next morning that he had had sex with her.’
The prosecutor told the court that it ‘was the processes that followed the complaint as opposed to the rape itself’ that appears to have had an “extreme impact” on the victim and led to her death.
However, he pointed out that an investigation was unavoidable once it was reported given the seriousness of the incident.
Mr Cobbe said the incident was a clear abuse of trust by Weeks given Ms Lewis’ difficulties that were known to him.
He said other aggravating factors included the fact she was asleep and it was recorded on cameras that Weeks would have known were live at the time.
Her sibling said Ms Lewis had never had an easy life, noting how her mum died when she was aged just 11.
This led to a mental health spiral for Ms Lewis who was put in care and moved from home to home as carers struggled to cater for her complex needs.
Ms Lewis’ sister said after her sibling met Weeks he became her full-time carer and she relied on him for many tasks.
Ms Lewis was someone who volunteered for charity and regularly put others before herself, it continued.
The statement said: ‘The effect on our family has been devastating…I have lost my best friend…Tina was the greatest inspiration of my life.’
Julia Cox, for Weeks, addressed the court and said: ‘This is a tragic case and nothing that I say in mitigation detracts from that.’
She told the court how her ‘remorseful’ client has a clean criminal history, entered timely guilty pleas to counts of rape and sexual assault, and cooperated fully with the investigation.
She said Weeks suffers with complex personal struggles of his own, including autism, and stated that his relationship with Ms Lewis was ‘complex’.
She said he did not place cameras in his room for sexual gratification.
She asked Judge Jeremy Jenkins to take into consideration that it was the stresses associated with the process of the investigation that directly led to Ms Lewis’ death rather than the act of rape itself.
However, Judge Jenkins later rejected this.
Addressing Weeks directly Judge Jenkins said: ‘The fact of the matter is that you committed a very wicked act and the only sentence this court can pass is one with immediate custody.’
He added: ‘Mitigation suggests there is a distinction to be made between your act and what followed. I disagree: they followed one another.
‘Once penetration had taken place and the offence admitted there was bound to be a full investigation that followed the act. The effect of the investigation proved sadly too much for Ms Lewis.’
He sentenced Weeks to eight years in prison with two-thirds of that to be spent in custody before he is released on licence.
He will also be on the sex offender register for the rest of his life.
After their infamous plot to destroy parliament was foiled, Guy Fawkes and his co-conspirators received one of the most severe judicial sentences in English history: hanging, drawing and quartering. According to the Treason Act 1351 , this punishment involved…Click Here To Continue Reading>> …Click Here To Continue Reading>>
Author
Michelle SpearProfessor of Anatomy, University of Bristol
That you be drawn on a hurdle to the place of execution, where you shall be hanged by the neck and being alive cut down, your privy members shall be cut off and your bowels taken out and burned before you, your head severed from your body and your body divided into four quarters to be disposed of at the King’s pleasure.
This process aimed not only to inflict excruciating pain on the condemned, but to serve as a deterrent – demonstrating the fate of those who betrayed the Crown. While Fawkes reportedly jumped from the gallows – which meant he avoided the full extent of his punishment – his co-conspirators apparently weren’t so lucky.
By dissecting each stage of this medieval punishment from an anatomical perspective, we can understand the profound agony each of them endured.
Torture for confession
Before his public execution on January 31 1606, Fawkes was tortured to force a confession about his involvement in the “gunpowder plot”.
The Tower of London records confirm that King James I personally authorised “the gentler tortures first”. Accounts reveal that Fawkes was stretched on the rack – a device designed to slowly pull the limbs in opposite directions. This stretching inflicted severe trauma on the shoulders, elbows and hips, as well as the spine.
The forces exerted by the rack probably exceeded those required for joint or hip dislocation under normal conditions.
Substantive differences between Fawkes’ signatures on confessions between November 8 and shortly before his execution may indicate the amount of nerve and soft tissue damage sustained. It also illustrates how remarkable his final leap from the gallows was.
Stage 1: hanging (partial strangulation)
After surviving the torture of the rack, Fawkes and his gang faced the next stage of their punishment: hanging. But this form of hanging only partially strangled the condemned – preserving their consciousness and prolonging their suffering.
Partial strangulation exerts extreme pressure on several critical neck structures. The hyoid bone , a small u-shaped structure above the larynx, is prone to bruising or fracture under compression .
Simultaneously, pressure on the carotid arteries restricts blood flow to the brain, while compression of the jugular veins causes pooling of blood in the head – probably resulting in visible haemorrhages in the eyes and face.
Because the larynx and trachea (both essential for airflow) are partially obstructed, this makes breathing laboured. Strain on the cervical spine and surrounding muscles in the neck can lead to tearing, muscle spasms or dislocation of the vertebra – causing severe pain. READ FULL STORY HERE>>>CLICK HERE TO CONTINUE READING>>>
Fawkes brought his agony to a premature end by leaping from the gallows. Accounts from the time tell us:
His body being weak with the torture and sickness, he was scarce able to go up the ladder – yet with much ado, by the help of the hangman, went high enough to break his neck by the fall.
This probably caused him to suffer a bilateral fracture of his second cervical vertebra, assisted by his own bodyweight – an injury known as the “hangman’s fracture” .
Stage 2: Drawing (disembowelment)
After enduring partial hanging, the victim would then be “drawn” – a process which involved disembowelling them while still alive. This act mainly targeted the organs of the abdominal cavity – including the intestines, liver and kidney, as well as major blood vessels such as the abdominal aorta.
The physiological response to disembowelment would have been immediate and severe. The abdominal cavity possesses a high concentration of pain receptors – particularly around the membranous lining of the abdomen . When punctured, these pain receptors would have sent intense pain signals to the brain, overwhelming the body’s capacity for pain management . Shock would soon follow due to the rapid drop in blood pressure caused by massive amounts of blood loss.
Stage 3: quartering (dismemberment)
Quartering was also supposed to be performed while the victim was still alive. Though no accounts exist detailing at what phase victims typically lost consciousness during execution, it’s highly unlikely many survived the shock of being drawn.
So, at this stage, publicity superseded punishment given the victim’s likely earlier demise. Limbs that were removed from criminals were preserved by boiling them with spices. These were then toured around the country to act as a deterrent for others.
Though accounts suggest Fawkes’s body parts were sent to “the four corners of the United Kingdom”, there is no specific record of what was sent where. However, his head was displayed in London .
Traitor’s punishment
The punishment of hanging, drawing and quartering was designed to be as anatomically devastating as it was psychologically terrifying. Each stage of the process exploited the vulnerabilities of the human body to create maximum pain and suffering, while also serving as a grim reminder of the consequences of treason.
This punishment also gives us an insight into how medieval justice systems used the body as a canvas for social and political messaging. Fawkes’s fate, though unimaginable today, exemplifies the extremes to which the state could, and would, go to maintain control, power and authority over its subjects.
The sentence of hanging, drawing and quartering was officially removed from English law as part of the Forfeiture Act of 1870 .
There are many unusual things happening across the world. Children are charming and lovely, yet others are really dangerous and have been involved in a variety of illegal activities in society.
Joshua Phillips stabbed his neighbor’s eight-year-old daughter and put the girl’s body under his bed at home. After eight days, his mother discovered the body.
Joshua Phillips was fourteen years old when he committed this act, according to reports, and he was sentenced to life in jail.
Take a look at how Joshua Phillips is now.
2. Eric Smith:
Eric Smith, according to sources, was condemned to life in jail many years ago. Eric Smith was just 13 years old when he hit a 4-year-old boy with a rock and killed him.
Following multiple conversations with Eric, he stated that he was bullied by several senior kids at his school and that he killed the youngster because he was irritated and upset. READ FULL STORY HERE>>>CLICK HERE TO CONTINUE READING>>>
3. Lionel Tate:
Lionel Tate was one of the youngest people to get a life sentence.
According to sources, when he was 13 years old, Lionel Tate killed his neighbor’s six-year-old daughter.
Lionel Tate claimed he was boxing with the young girl.
4. Brian Lee Draper:
Brian Lee Draper was sentenced to life in prison in 2006 for murdering a classmate, according to reports.
The murder was committed by Brian Lee Draper and his friend Torey Adamcik, who was sixteen years old at the time.
Parents should always endeavor to teach their children how to be good children, as well as pray for them.
A woman named Stella Namwanje was arrested in Uganda for allegedly committing an atrocious act against her neighbor’s baby. Reports indicate that she was caught on video defecating and urinating on the infant before feeding him the waste. This shocking behavior has drawn widespread condemnation and raised serious concerns about the child’s welfare…Click Here To Continue Reading>> …Click Here To Continue Reading>>
The incident took place in the Binyonyi A area of the Nyendo-Mukungwe division. Local authorities acted swiftly after the disturbing footage circulated on social media, prompting community outrage. The police have since taken Namwanje into custody to investigate the circumstances surrounding her actions and ensure the safety of the child.
The case has sparked discussions about the need for stronger measures to protect vulnerable individuals, especially children, from abuse. It highlights the alarming reality of child torture and the psychological issues that may drive such behavior. READ FULL STORY HERE>>>CLICK HERE TO CONTINUE READING>>>
As the investigation unfolds, the community is rallying to support the affected family and prevent similar incidents in the future. The legal proceedings against Namwanje will likely focus on the extent of her actions and the necessary repercussions for such a heinous crime.