TOP STORY: Victim faces rapist in court

Haumoana artist Peni Edwards, who starred in her own live billboard on Friday in a public protest against rape, yesterday confronted her attacker in court as he was sentenced to nine years' jail for two rapes on one night.
Ms Edwards read her victim impact statement to Lance Patrick Williams, who appeared for sentence in the Napier District Court on two charges of sexual violation, one of burglary and one of assault.
He received nine years in prison with a five-year minimum non-parole period on the lead sexual violation charge - one of the longest jail sentences handed down in the court this year. It related to Williams' rape of a man in Haumoana on March 23.
The other sexual-violation charge related to Ms Edwards, whom Williams also attacked on March 23.
Ms Edwards told the court she was "traumatised" and now had panic attacks as a result of Williams' actions. The incident had first made her angry and then depressed.
"I woke up one morning and could not stop crying." She said victims of sex crimes did not deserve to suffer for the actions of their attackers.
"It's not our humiliation, it's not our shame, and it's not our fault."
Williams stared impassively at Ms Edwards as she read her statement.
Judge Tony Adeane said Williams was a "dangerous and unpredictable individual" who had shown no remorse for his "sinister" offending.
He said Williams had met a man as he wandered around Haumoana on the night of March 23. The man invited Williams back to his flat, where they socialised with others.
Judge Adeane said Williams boasted about his prowess as a kickboxer, claiming he had spent time serving with the Australian special forces. At one point in the evening he grabbed a male partygoer in a headlock, which later resulted in the assault charge.
Ms Edwards, who lived nearby, made a brief appearance at the gathering before going to bed.
The judge said after everyone except the male victim and Williams had left the flat, Williams attacked the man and raped him.
He then walked to Ms Edwards' home and entered her bedroom, where she was asleep with her partner. He sexually violated her, waking both Ms Edwards and her partner, before "sauntering off".
Judge Adeane said Williams initially denied being in Ms Edwards' home, but had changed his story when confronted with DNA evidence.
Along with the nine-year jail term, the judge sentenced Williams to six years on the sexual violation charge relating to Ms Edwards, three years for the burglary and three months for the assault charge, all to be served concurrently.