Victim sent letters from her rapist behind bars

A rape survivor who obtained a number of letters from her jailed attacker has criticised a jail for failing “to maintain victims secure”.

HMP Parc in Bridgend, south Wales, is already underneath strain after 10 prisoners died in three months earlier this 12 months.

Rieve Nesbitt-Marr, 21, waived her proper to anonymity to inform the BBC she was sent seven letters from her rapist in 10 months, regardless of pleading with authorities to take motion.

HMP Parc stated it takes public safety “extraordinarily significantly” and that it had tried to cease the letters.

Warning: This report accommodates element some individuals could discover distressing

Ms Nesbitt-Marr had been seeing John Harding, 28, for simply 12 days when he imprisoned her in her flat and raped her in July 2023.

At one level through the extended assault, wherein he additionally stood on her head and dragged her alongside the ground, he instructed her she was “not scared sufficient”.

Ms Nesbitt-Marr escaped her flat in Newport the next morning and ran to a neighborhood Boots retailer the place she instructed employees she had been raped.

Police arrested Harding the identical day and he was taken to HMP Parc to await his trial.

Around three weeks later, Ms Nesbitt-Marr obtained the primary letter from Harding, sent by way of a fellow inmate.

In the letter, seen by the BBC, Harding stated he missed the texture of her “bare pores and skin” and stated he wished to be in a relationship with her when he “will get out”.

Ms Nesbitt-Marr, who was identified with post-traumatic stress dysfunction (PTSD) after Harding’s violent assault, stated it felt like he was handing her the letter himself.

“My thoughts simply froze and I noticed all the occasions taking place once more,” she stated.

“It actually did put me again in that second.”

She referred to as Gwent Police, who gave her against the law reference quantity and instructed she contact the jail.

The jail instructed her to make use of a scheme, launched by the UK government in 2022, wherein victims can ask for undesirable contact from prisoners to be stopped.

Ms Nesbitt-Marr did this, however the letters continued.

In whole, she stated she obtained seven letters, each earlier than and after Harding’s trial and conviction final 12 months.

Harding was discovered guilty in December of six counts including false imprisonment and rape against Ms Nesbitt-Marr.

In the identical trial, he was additionally discovered responsible of 4 counts towards a 16-year-old sufferer, together with false imprisonment, strangulation and threats to kill.

He was jailed for 15 years and given a restraining order banning him from contacting Ms Nesbitt-Marr straight or via third events, however the letters continued.

Eventually, she shared her story on TikTok.

The movies had tons of of 1000’s of views and ladies messaged her to say they’d skilled related issues.

But months on, Ms Nesbitt-Marr stated the privately-run jail had nonetheless not reached out to her or apologised, leaving her “fully in the dead of night”.

Ms Nesbitt-Marr’s dad, Paul, labored in prisons for 20 years.

He stated stopping letters reaching victims was a “primary” a part of a jail’s responsibility to maintain members of the general public secure.

After Harding sent a second letter to his daughter, he stated he referred to as the jail to elucidate the state of affairs.

He stated: “I defined that my understanding was that the safety supervisor ought to be briefing the employees who cope with publish and telling them that no correspondence with the sufferer’s identify and handle ought to be leaving the institution, underneath any circumstances.”

He stated he was assured that will occur, however it didn’t.

“It makes me really feel extraordinarily indignant,” he added.

“When I used to be working in prisons, this may be probably the most primary duties.”

G4S, which runs HMP Parc, stated it had taken “all applicable steps” however acknowledged it had not been capable of cease the letters.

It stated it had taken motion, together with disciplining Harding and two different inmates, and reporting the letters to police.

But it stated Harding “selected to breach his restraining order through the use of third events”.

The spokesperson added: “We admire that these letters would have brought about immense misery and categorical our sympathies to Ms Nesbitt-Marr.”

Gwent Police stated it was investigating the letters.

Violence towards girls and women campaigner Ellie Wilson, who waived her proper to anonymity as a rape survivor to marketing campaign for extra help, praised Ms Nesbitt-Marr for talking out and stated survivors have been handled as an “afterthought” by the justice system.

Ms Wilson’s attacker, Daniel MacFarlane, was discovered responsible of two rape expenses and sentenced to 5 years in jail in July 2022, after she gave police an audio recording of him confessing to raping her.

She has since efficiently campaigned for a pilot scheme in Scotland to present victims free entry to court docket transcripts.

Speaking about Ms Nesbitt-Marr’s expertise, she stated: “It’s terrible to listen to what she’s gone via, each by the hands of her perpetrator, but in addition by the hands of the system.

“We have to ensure that the justice system correctly helps survivors, and ensures that justice is definitely delivered.”

Sara Kirkpatrick of Welsh Women’s Aid stated Ms Nesbitt-Marr’s expertise was not remoted.

She stated: “We do obtain calls from individuals receiving contact that they didn’t need from an offender who’s presently in jail.

“My clear recommendation could be, don’t throw it within the bin and share that info with the police, with the jail authorities, together with your help employee, as a result of it’s a additional offence.”

Ms Nesbitt-Marr stated she selected to waive her anonymity within the hope that telling her story would defend different victims.

“I really feel such as you want to have the ability to see me, and to see how a lot ache I’m going via, to assist me change issues,” she stated.

“A jail’s position is to maintain victims secure and thus far they have not carried out that.

“I would really like an apology from the jail as a result of I’ve nonetheless not obtained one and I wish to cease being contacted by the one that sexually assaulted me.”

Ms Nesbitt-Marr stated she additionally wished to indicate different victims that they weren’t alone.

“I would like girls to know that that is nothing to be embarrassed about,” she stated.

“The solely individual that must be embarrassed is the one that violated you.”

If you, or somebody has been affected by points raised on this story, sources of help can be found by way of the BBC Action Line.