DOMINIC GOVER

ibtimes.co.uk A rapist faces a nerve-wracking wait to find out if he caught the deadly HIV/Aids virus from his victim. Richard Thomas, 27, collapsed and had to be admitted to hospital when Manchester police told him about his victim's condition after the attack in July. Thomas broke in to the house of the woman, whom he knew, and forced himself on her while she was asleep. The victim, who lives in Leigh, Manchester, had taken a sleeping pill shortly before the attack. She woke up to find him raping her. Thomas knew the woman had a medical condition but was ignorant of the underlying cause. The Bolton News reported he had been drinking and taking drugs earlier that night. Defending counsel Virginia Hayton told Liverpool Crown Court: "It is his own fault, if he had not committed this offence he would not have placed himself in this position." Thomas admitted raping the woman, after saying "she would not lie, she tells the truth. If she says I have done it, I have done it." Hayton added that Thomas "is remorseful and cannot understand why he did it and it is troubling him." Jailing Thomas for five years and four months, Judge Mark Brown branded his crime a "dreadful offence" and ordered him to sign the sex offenders register for life. Test results this week are expected to reveal whether or not he has HIV/Aids.