A woman raped in a Southend car park contracted a sexually transmitted disease from her rapist, a court has heard.
The victim was put on a course of tablets and left fearing her partner would find her “dirty” after the rape, Basildon Crown Court heard.
Rapist Abdul Omer, 31, of no fixed abode, was sentenced on Wednesday (August 26) to eight years in prison, followed by four on extended licence.
The court heard he attacked his homeless victim as she slept in the makeshift bed she now considered her home.
“I was perfectly fine in the car park,” she wrote in a statement read to the court. “No one would bother me. No one would come there.
“I felt safe amongst the homeless community in Southend. Up until that point, it had been somewhere I was warm, dry, safe and comfortable.
“I had stayed there many times, alone and with other people, and I had never felt uncomfortable.”
But in August 2025, the woman was awoken at around 9pm by Omer raping her.
A recently released mental patient, he told the woman his name and apologised to her before leaving.
“I can still see his face,” the victim wrote. “I close my eyes and he’s right there. I will never forget his eyes.
“This brings back what happened on that day. Because of this, I can’t sleep – and I don’t want to take sleeping tablets as I don’t want to get addicted.
“It is completely draining to me. It’s like I cat nap now and don’t sleep properly.”
Since the attack, she said, “I have gone within myself. I don’t go out much anymore. I just stay indoors with my boyfriend as I don’t feel comfortable to go out in Southend anymore.
“I was a fairly sociable person and I had a really good community around me before this. I feel like I don’t have this anymore.”
Tested after the rape, it transpired she had contracted a sexually transmitted infection called TV.
“It made me feel dirty when I was told that,” she wrote.
“[The rape] has affected my relationship. I find it difficult to be intimate with my partner now… I was worried that my partner felt like I was dirty after this, but he just doesn’t want to traumatise me.”
She added: “I am not racist. However, since this incident I have found myself feeling really uncomfortable when black males look at me. This was not a feeling that I had before this incident.
“This is because if someone looked similar to the suspect, it brings back all the memories of what happened to me that night.”
“I am glad it happened to me and not my daughter or anyone else’s daughter, but this should not have happened to anyone,” she wrote.
“I never thought I would be in this situation… I have always had my own home, my independence. I feel like with my partner I can start to rebuild. I am fighting and I am a survivor.”
Catch up:
Sentencing Omer, Judge Samantha Cohen said: “The impact on her of what you did has been dreadful. She contracted a sexually transmitted disease as a result of your having raped her.
“She is fearful of men. She has experienced intimacy problems with her partner. Her sleep has been disrupted because she just feels unsafe to close her eyes. She suffers flashbacks.”
Omer, a former medical student whose planned career fell apart due to his schizoaffective disorder and bouts of psychosis, had been released from a mental hospital just weeks before the attack.
When he tried to readmit himself, he was rejected due to suspicions he was faking his symptoms just to get accommodation.
But when arrested after the rape, he was deemed too mentally unwell to be interviewed.
Once medicated and fit to participate in proceedings, he pleaded guilty to rape at the first opportunity.
However, he told the probation service he did not remember the incident and pleaded guilty because DNA proved he had done it.
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