Jailed: Telford man sexually assaulted woman after 20 beers

Tony Bushnall, aged 45, admitted the offence at an earlier hearing.

The court heard the victim was left suffering mental health problems after the incident which happened at a property in the town on October 24, 2016.

In a victim impact statement, the woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said: “Since the incident I have real trouble sleeping and suffer from low moods. I still cannot understand why he did this to me. I’m now taking anti-depressants because of something he did.

“I’ve been through so much in my life. There’s only so much I can take.”

She said that due to the assault she suffers from emotional stress and anxiety and had split with her boyfriend because she could not bring herself to tell him what Bushnall had done. She said the illness also resulted in her losing her job and suffering financial difficulty.

The woman added that her problems were made worse by the fact that Bushnall denied the allegations for 18 months before finally admitting his crime, leaving her feeling isolated in the community.

Bushnall at first denied the offence and was due to stand trial last month when he changed his plea to guilty ahead of the hearing.

Danny Smith, defending, said: “He accepts he could have made a more timely guilty plea and accepts that this has crossed the custody threshold.”

Bushnall must serve half the sentence before being released on licence. He has been placed on the notification sex register for 10 years.