Keith Wicks-Cairns, 37, appeared before the High Court at Dunedin this morning where he was sentenced to preventive detention after pleading guilty to the burglary of the Cosy Dell Rd property in Dunedin, two counts of sexual violation by unlawful sexual connection and rape.
Justice Melanie Harland ruled he would serve seven years three months before seeing the Parole Board.
The court heard there was a very high risk of future serious crimes and the defendant exhibited psychopathic traits when assessed by clinicians.
The judge noted Wicks-Cairns had previous convictions for sex offences and said there was "a clear pattern of serious offending which has escalated in seriousness".
She said there was no evidence to persuade her the defendant’s risk level would have decreased by the end of a finite sentence.
"You show little insight into your offending," she said.
The case was not finely balanced, Justice Harland told the packed court.
The victim of the sex attack told the court in a statement today that she had lived in "constant fear" for the last 13 months.
"Some days I barely recognise myself," she said.
"I check the doors and windows over and over because I’m scared I missed something."
The young woman said she had worked hard to establish her independence but that now felt like a risk rather than an acheivement.
"It’s frightening to feel like my future, something I was working so hard for, has been destroyed by someone else’s actions," she said.
Wicks-Cairns was driving around North Dunedin’s student sector in the early hours of February 4 last year.
He pulled the hat over his face to conceal his identity as he approached the victim’s home, court documents said.
Once inside, Wicks-Cairns made his way to the top floor where the woman was sleeping and immediately covered her mouth with his hand, forcing her head into a pillow.
He repeatedly asked: "are you going to be quiet?"
The woman screamed and kicked out, prompting Wicks-Cairns to restrain her by the wrists, his knee against her lower back.
"No one is going to hear you," Wicks-Cairns said.
The defendant then violated the woman despite her protestations, telling her to "enjoy it".
"She lay on the bed with her eyes closed wanting and waiting for what was happening to be over," the court heard.
Once the attack ended, Wicks-Cairns led the victim to the flat’s kitchen and made her wash her hands.
Justice Harland said there were multiple points where the man could have ceased the attack.
Wicks-Cairns, though, told one clinician his thought process was: "f... it, I’m already f..... up. It can’t get any worse . . . I’ve already broken into a house and reached the point of no return."
When they got back to the bedroom, he warned her if she told anyone what had happened, he would be back.
Twenty minutes after arriving, Wicks-Cairns was again caught on CCTV running from the address, carrying the victim’s bedsheet.
In 2013, Wicks-Cairns was jailed for four years 10 months when he appeared at the Invercargill District Court for sex crimes against two pre-teen girls.
Crown prosecutor Richard Smith noted the second attack came three weeks after being scolded by the first victim’s mother, who had informed him she was going to police.
"Strikingly", Mr Smith said, those sexual assaults also began on sleeping victims.
Wicks-Cairns admitted recently that he had "groomed" the girls’ mothers to get access to the kids.
Preventive detention was essential for community protection, Mr Smith argued.
In a letter to the court, the defendant said he was now ready to undertake rehabilitation but the prosecution stressed he had twice previously failed to take advantage of such assistance.
"I know prison is where I deserve to be until I’ve dealt with the demons inside . . . I'm right where I need to be to ensure the safety of others," Wicks-Cairns wrote in a letter to the court.
Counsel Joshua Grainger said the defendant’s wishes to change were genuine.
Wicks-Cairns was not "beyond rehabilitation", he argued.
Mr Grainger stressed his client had never had a preventive-detention warning and the seriousness of his current situation had been "a wake-up call".
Justice Harland acknowledged Wicks-Cairns' extremely dysfunctional childhood which included stays in state care, the use of alcohol and drugs at 12, and leaving school at 13.
However, the defendant had not taken advantage of the extensive efforts made to alter his course.
The victim said some days she felt as though she was recovering from the ordeal but other days the fear was stronger than ever.
Regardless, she remained determine to rebuild herself.
"I want the defendant to know, I won’t let his cowardly actions dictate my life," she said.
