Attack victim thought she would die

A West Auckland man has been jailed for 10 years for a violent P-fuelled sex attack during which his victim thought she was going to die.

Fraser Samuel Milham, aged 31, kept his head bowed throughout most of his sentencing yesterday. He was crying at one stage.

Occasionally he glanced in the direction of his victim, a 36-year-old woman who sat at the back of the courtroom.

The court heard how the woman, who was just getting her life on track after completing a drug recovery programme, met Milham a week before the sexual assault.

He had given her his phone number with a message to call if she ever needed anything.

In the early hours of July 20 she called asking for help with a flat tyre.

It was the beginning of terrifying two-hour ordeal during which she was threatened, violently assaulted and believed she would die at the hands of a man high on drugs.

The court heard how Milham arrived at her home, politely took off his shoes at the door and started helping with the dishes. He then looked at the flat tyre and suggested they go back to his place where he could lend her a spare.

When they arrived at his Glen Eden home everything changed.

Milham hit the woman across the back of her head, tearing a portion of skin and exposing part of her skull.

Bleeding and dazed, the woman was taken to a bedroom where she was bound, gagged, stripped naked and punched in the side of her face.

As the victim suffered terrible pain from her head injury and struggled to breathe through the gag Milham started to strangle her. She lost consciousness.

When the woman woke she was repeatedly violated with a large dildo.

Milham threatened to break both her arms and said he was going to trade her for his girlfriend and child who had been taken by the Headhunters.

He repeatedly swore at her and told her she could handle it because it had happened to him and he had "got way worse" than she was getting.

In the morning, after Milham cried and apologised for what he had done, the woman escaped.

In the Waitakere District Court yesterday Crown prosecutor Ned Fletcher described the incident as a "prolonged sexual attack of the worst possible kind".

Milham has 226 previous convictions but none for sexual or violent crimes.

Defence lawyer Jim Boyack said Milham accepted what his victim said without having seen her version of events.

"I do not need to read your file," he told his lawyer. "I live with it every day."

After reading the victim impact statement Milham said: "I have destroyed someone's life ... There is no blame on her shoulders. I can't take away what happened but I want her to feel better about herself."

Judge Hemi Taumaunu sentenced Milham to 10 years imprisonment with a minimum non-parole period of six years. He took into account an early guilty plea which saved the woman from having to give evidence in court.

After the sentencing the woman told the Herald she was happy with the judge's decision and she hoped it would give Milham a chance to seek help.

Despite what she had gone through, she said she felt slightly sorry for her attacker as she could see him suffering as he relived what he had done during the sentencing.

As someone who had beaten a P addiction herself, she said, she wanted to warn others, especially young people like her teenage daughter, about how bad the drug was.

"For anyone out there taking P, when they have got their whole life ahead of them don't, because it will destroy you."


The charges

* Fraser Samuel Milham, 31, of West Auckland, faced several counts:
* Two of sexual violation by unlawful sexual connection, wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, abduction, aggravated wounding.