Postgraduate Student Jailed for Rape and Assault

Dayan Garcia, 31, of Mariners Court, Plymouth, has been sentenced to nine years in prison for two counts of rape and one count of assault occasioning actual bodily harm.

The incident occurred in the early hours of April, when the victim, who had been out with friends, found herself separated from her group and met Garcia at Mambo nightclub.

The victim, who had agreed to go back to Garcia's address around 2:00 am, was assaulted and raped after refusing his advances. During the attack, she sustained facial injuries and "feared for her life."

Garcia, a PhD student in the Department of Architecture and Built Environment at the University of Plymouth, was also a lecturer at the university.

The victim's bravery in coming forward and providing detailed accounts of the "significantly traumatising offences" was recognized by the court. She managed to escape with Garcia's phone and seek safety after the attack.

Recorder Mr Richard Stead, who sentenced Garcia, said: "You were a young man with a life full of promise ahead of you before you threw it all away by your violent conduct that night."

Mr Lee Bremridge, defending Garcia, stated that his client's "brilliant academic career prospects" had been destroyed by his actions over just three and a half hours.

Garcia was placed on the sex offenders register for life and any future work will be subject to vetting by the Declaration and Barring Service.