Former teacher's nine-year jail term

A FORMER restaurant manager and teacher who has the "potential to be a predatory offender" has been jailed after being found guilty of raping a woman in a house in Carmarthen more than 20 years ago.

- ROB HARRIES Reporter

Daniel Gravell, 43, from Carmarthen, raped the then-19-year-old following a gathering at a property in 2002.

She told Monday's sentencing hearing that she had felt shame ever since the incident.

The victim, now in her 40s, read an impact statement from the witness box. She said: "What he did to me is unforgivable and now is the time that he needs to take responsibility for his actions.

"On the night I was raped I was extremely vulnerable. I know I haven't done anything wrong, but shame is something I continue to feel. I realise how much of my time over the years has been wasted. I'm so angry about how his behaviour has shaped mine since it happened."

She described how she would see Gravell, and his vehicle, around Carmarthen. "I always found this very difficult and uncomfortable, having to see his "awful face".

The victim added: "Informing my family of what happened to me was very difficult. The look on my brother's face will stay with me forever. What he (Gravell) did to me is unforgivable and now is the time that he needs to take responsibility for his actions."