December 2012

HIV positive Bristol rapist Gift Veremu sent to jail for eight years

AN HIV positive man who raped a teenage girl has been jailed for eight years.

Gift Veremu, 51, of Tynte Avenue, Hartcliffe, had denied raping the 16 yr old teenage girl in April 2010 and raping an older woman between September and November 2009.

After a week-long trial at Bristol Crown Court he was found guilty of raping the teenager but cleared of carrying out the earlier alleged attack.

The jury had heard from the teenage victim, who cannot be identified. She told them she started crying when she was raped by Veremu, who she said then offered to give her money not to tell anybody.

She said she had been dragged into a bedroom and was in “too much shock to fight back”.

“I just started crying,” she said. “I tried to struggle but he wouldn’t let me back up. I had no chance.

“I just laid there and gave up.

“After about five minutes he got off me, told me not to tell anyone and he’d give me money.”

It was the second time Veremu had stood trial for raping the teenager. The previous trial last year had been stopped after a legal blunder led to a juror seeing an unedited police interview.

The older complainant had brought an allegation against Veremu after reading about the previous trial, the court heard.

Judge Geoffrey Mercer QC jailed Veremu for eight years.