A former University of York student has been jailed for three and a half years after pleading guilty to one count of sexual assault.
Wade Makey appeared for sentencing on January 15th for an incident which occurred in 2024. He was studying at the University of York and living in the city at the time.
Prosecutor Dan Cordey explained the assault left the victim suffering with depression, and “very distressed”, York Mix reports.
In a victim impact statement, read aloud by the prosecution, the victim said that she had been left “distraught”. She explained: “I was scared to leave my house”, and said she was left with “no motivation”.
John Bachelor, defence barrister, said that Makey was on the autistic spectrum and suffered with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), which impacted his decision making. He also added that Makey had never been in trouble before.
During the sentencing at York Crown Court, Judge Simon Hickey said that although it was accepted that Makey had the two neurological disorders, they did not mitigate the offence, nor reduce his culpability, because he was aware that what he was doing was wrong.
He also noted the “ongoing significant impact” of the assault on the victim. The Judge told Makey that “An immediate (jail) sentence will impact you greatly because of your difficulties…but it has to be.”.
Makey received a three and a half year sentence, but was told that he would serve less than half of that behind bars, before being released on licence. He was also ordered to sign on the sex-offenders’ register for life.
If you have been affected by the content of this article, you can contact the Samaritans at any time by calling 116 123. Alternatively, you can contact Shout, a 24/7 text messaging service, by texting the word “Shout” to 85258.
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