Layla Sahami-Devon was simply 19 when she was raped by Daniel Gravell. She has waived her anonymity to talk about the evening that modified her life
“It was a violation of my human rights. When somebody comes right into a room to sexually assault you, to rape you, you don’t have any bodily energy. Afterwards you are feeling bodily sick, and really offended. However the strongest feeling was certainly one of disgrace.”
Layla Sahami-Devon was raped when she was 19. Now 42, thus far hers is a life lived in two distinct elements: every little thing as much as that time, in the course of the early hours of a winter’s morning in 2002, and every little thing after. She was one particular person earlier than she was raped, and on that morning she turned one other. A way of dread, disgrace and guilt manifested inside and continued to churn for greater than twenty years.
Earlier this week, the person who raped her, 43-year-old Daniel Gravell from Carmarthen, was jailed. On the sentencing listening to, held at Swansea Crown Courtroom on Monday, June 23, Layla learn an affect assertion from the witness field. She mentioned: “What he did to me is unforgivable and now could be the time that he must take accountability for his actions.
“On the evening I used to be raped I used to be extraordinarily weak. I realise how a lot of my time through the years has been wasted.”
Talking completely to Wales On-line within the days that adopted the sentencing listening to, Layla opened about every little thing she’s been by.
“Daniel was simply somebody I knew from faculty,” explains Layla, who has labored as a psychotherapist for years, serving to others with their psychological well being. “He was within the 12 months above. I didn’t know him in any respect however I knew of him. He was often known as one thing of a ‘joker’ at school and he all the time wished to be with women. He was somebody that I personally would steer clear of.
“I do have some trauma signs. They’re led to by the picture of his terrible face. What occurred undoubtedly formed me, and it formed my behaviour. I’m conscious that I’ve adopted a kind of motherly function inside my social group. I need to be in management as a result of I didn’t have management that evening. That evening has formed my behaviour in addition to that of my pals and my husband.
“I didn’t need anybody to know, particularly my dad and mom. I keep that I’d not have come ahead, I’d not have reported the rape, had my father nonetheless been alive. There’s a sure bond between a daughter and a father, and I’d not have wished him to know what occurred to me. Typically there are individuals in your life that you simply can not bear understanding what you’ve been by, and that was actually the case with Dad.”
Disgrace is usually an emotion felt by individuals who have been raped, though what has occurred will not be their fault. It’s the rapist who ought to really feel it, not the sufferer. So at this level I ask Layla why that emotion in victims of sexual abuse is so sturdy. The disgrace comes from different individuals discovering out what’s occurred to you, what’s been executed to you,” she says. “It’s a typical emotion for individuals who have been sexually assaulted.”
Layla was raped by Gravell at a home in Carmarthen. There had been a gathering to have a good time a good friend’s birthday. At a sure level within the night, Layla went into the centre of city intent on going to Waterside, a well-liked native nightclub. Nonetheless, when she arrived outdoors she realised one thing was very flawed. Unexpectedly, she couldn’t get up; she needed to be helped by pals simply to sit down on the ground outdoors the membership.
Through the trial, held at Swansea Crown Courtroom earlier this 12 months, the jury heard how Layla was too unwell to remain out in Carmarthen so her pals sorted her and organized to take her again to the home. There, she was put to mattress in one of many bedrooms by her pals, because the merriment and celebrations continued elsewhere in the home.
At round 4.15am, Layla described in courtroom how she awoke to search out Gravell on prime of her, raping her. She instructed him to get off twice however he ignored her. She additionally defined in courtroom how Gravell instructed her that it was “okay” and that it was somebody she knew, specifically her ex-boyfriend with whom she had not too long ago cut up.
Gravell ejaculated inside her, pulled up his trousers and left the room.
Layla put all of it to the furthest nook of her thoughts and “obtained on with issues” as she constructed a life and a household. She would see Gravell “out and about” in Carmarthen, a small, close-knit city the place everybody appears to know everybody else. She agonised for years about going to the police, however typically life will get in the best way. Typically it’s simpler to say nothing.
“I ought to have come ahead earlier,” she says. “I wished to come back ahead years in the past however I used to be pregnant, and there have been some issues with the being pregnant, so I made a decision with my husband that it wasn’t the appropriate time to report it. I’m sorry I didn’t.”
One other six years glided by till at some point Layla was with certainly one of her youngsters in a comfortable play centre in Pembrokeshire when somebody talked about Gravell’s title.
“I felt terrible, and I felt that disgrace once more,” she says. “I felt responsible for not saying something earlier, and I bear in mind pondering ‘I need to do one thing now, I need to’. So I went dwelling and spoke to my husband and requested if now was the time to come back ahead. He mentioned he would assist me with no matter I made a decision to do, 100%.”
Layla picked up the telephone, dialled 101 and spoke to somebody from Dyfed-Powys Police. Quickly an officer got here to her dwelling and took an announcement earlier than she was launched to Detective Sergeant (then Detective Constable) Lee James, who would change into what’s often known as the “officer in case”.
Unexpectedly, though three additional years would move earlier than the case arrived earlier than a courtroom, a burden was lifted from Layla’s shoulders. The courtroom case would finally start in April 2025 and final for a interval of two weeks. Gravell was discovered responsible of raping Layla by an unanimous jury.
When she heard the phrase ‘responsible’ being learn in courtroom by the jury foreperson, Layla didn’t scream or burst into tears. She sat there in courtroom and nodded. Justice had been executed, and one thing that had eaten her up for 23 years was over.
“Between what occurred and me reporting it to the police, I used to be usually OK throughout that interval,” Layla says. “I’m very resilient. I used to be fortunate to have superb dad and mom rising up. Clearly my precedence was to inform my husband. Daniel Gravell was a very talked-about man on the town and everyone knew him. I needed to inform my husband and that was a really troublesome factor for him. I’d be triggered if I noticed Daniel or if I noticed his van. I noticed him a few instances at social gatherings, I noticed him at a marriage as soon as. I needed to tolerate being round him and that was troublesome.”
Layla needs to encourage people who find themselves victims of sexual assault to come back ahead and report their experiences to police. If somebody makes an allegation of sexual assault, they’re robotically granted life-long anonymity in order that their title is protected. Layla has determined to waive her proper to anonymity to talk to WalesOnline within the hope that she will encourage different people who find themselves victims of sexual abuse to come back ahead.
“We borrow and lend power to 1 one other,” she says. “I’m talking about this brazenly to move on a few of that power to different ladies who could also be looking for the braveness to report their very own expertise.”
She can be opening up in order that she will start to maneuver on together with her life after the ordeal of a rape trial, which heard how Gravell later boasted about what had occurred.
“The trial was the worst a part of this entire course of,” Layla admits. “Your integrity is basically assassinated while you’re within the witness field. You’re anxious, you’re attempting to clarify how issues occurred and the defence barrister is being very intelligent, he’s taking part in a number of video games. It’s like he tried to befriend me.
“While you inform the reality, in my thoughts you’ll be able to’t go flawed, however the barrister is paid to create doubt. However as a result of I’m a bit older now and I’ve some life expertise, and due to every little thing I’d been feeling for greater than 20 years, I used to be prepared for every little thing that was thrown at me in that field.
“Being on the stand was not the toughest half – it was listening to the closing assertion from the defence barrister, as a result of then your piece has been mentioned and also you don’t get the chance to reply again. I discovered that very arduous. However I stored telling myself that the barrister was not attacking me personally – it’s his job to defend his consumer. That’s how I noticed it, that’s how I tolerated it and why I stored coming again each day. I reminded myself that he was doing his job like I’d do mine.”
Through the trial, Layla was sat toes away from the person who raped her.
“It was arduous as a result of I needed to simply sit there and take it,” she explains. “That was robust, particularly for my household and pals. I needed to be round him once more, round his face. But it surely was essential for me to be in that courtroom, it was very useful for me personally. Seeing his face for 2 weeks was a sort of remedy, virtually. I used to be shaking and my coronary heart was beating out of my chest, however it was essential for me to see him.”
The duty of going by the courtroom case was made tougher by the truth that Layla needed to endure it with out somebody very particular to her.
“Over the past two years my stunning mom turned very unwell with most cancers and sadly she handed away on the finish of 2023,” she reveals. “I’m extraordinarily offended that in this time, when my sole focus ought to have been on taking care of her and spending our time left together with her as a household, my thoughts was as a substitute consumed by what Daniel Gravell did to me and what I used to be having to undergo to deliver him to justice. I’m unhappy that my mom needed to undergo the heartbreak of discovering out what occurred to me, and likewise that she was not right here to have the ability to assist me by the ultimate phases of the case. I do know nevertheless that my mom and father could be very happy with me.”
Lower than eight weeks have now handed since Daniel Gravell was discovered responsible of raping Layla, and fewer than per week has handed since he was sentenced to 9 years in jail. For Layla, the remainder of her life begins now. She has bravely given up her anonymity and determined to talk out for one interview solely.
“As soon as this interview is completed I’m executed with the entire thing,” she says from throughout a desk. “I need to elevate consciousness for different individuals affected by the trauma of rape and sexual assault and hopefully I’ve executed that. I need to champion the police for his or her dedication, their kindness, their respect, their compassion. They have been distinctive.
“Lee (Detective Sergeant Lee James) has supported me each step of the best way, and I really feel individuals do must know that if they arrive ahead and report a sexual offence they are going to be within the palms of compassionate individuals. I’ve seen first-hand how genuinely invested the police are in getting justice for victims. I can by no means thank them sufficient for that.
“It’s by no means too late to report a sexual crime, and the police proved they may deal with circumstances with equal significance whether or not they’re historic or latest. It’s a distinct world now to the one we lived in in 2002 and there’s a variety of assist on the market for ladies and men who’re victims. I want to suppose that folks is not going to stroll round for 20 years carrying a way of disgrace and guilt that doesn’t belong to them.
“I have been by a really troublesome course of, however once I determined to report what occurred to me I needed to decide to exposing myself, not publicly at first however to pals, household, work colleagues….particularly as I’m from Carmarthen. There was a number of public curiosity.
“The assist from individuals regionally has been unimaginable. I’ve been approached by an area reverend who’s supporting ladies who’ve been sexually assaulted, and it’s beautiful to see such caring individuals attempting to make a distinction in our group.”
As daunting as a prolonged courtroom trial might be, to not point out every little thing that precedes it, Layla says her “journey” by the authorized course of, whatever the verdict reached at its finish, has helped her to start out her life once more. “The factor about the entire journey, from the begin to the very finish, is that it means I’m not carrying IT anymore – you might be getting all of it out and doing one thing with it. It’s a part of letting go.
“Not all circumstances lead to a conviction, and even make it to courtroom, however even having the chance to inform your story may very well be useful to that journey of restoration. Whatever the end result of the trial, I’ve finally executed the appropriate factor. I’ve been open and trustworthy about every little thing and I can now be at peace with myself. I hope the ending of this trial permits me to rebuild my life with my assist community by my aspect.
“I don’t need the notion of me to alter, I’m nonetheless the bubbly, caring Layla that everyone is aware of me as. This expertise doesn’t outline me. My fierce, genuine self hasn’t shifted. This expertise is just one other lesson added to my progress. However right this moment I can lastly shut a painful chapter in my life that has consumed me for 23 years.
“I want to thank my unimaginable family and friends for his or her loyalty and assist, the cops and detectives whose professionalism and kindness by no means wavered, and the courageous ladies in every single place who report sexual abuse. In my case, justice has been executed.
“I’d urge anybody who has suffered to come back ahead as a result of in doing so you might be handing again that disgrace, that guilt, to the place it belongs, to the person who harm you.”
