4:27PM, Fri Feb 15, 2013

Student's Suicide Attempt In Court After Rape Conviction

By Hugh Macknight Location: Newcastle

A Newcastle student tried to kill himself in the dock of a crown court after being convicted of rape.

Liem Nguyen had denied attacking a 19-year-old student who he had offered to help.

Newcastle Crown Court where Liem Nguyen tried to kill himself

Following a trial by jury at Newcastle Crown Court the 21-year-old, who had been studying civil engineering at Nottingham University, was found guilty.

After the jury foreman delivered the 10-2 majority verdict Nguyen announced this would be his last day on earth and headbutted the toughened glass partition of the dock with extreme force.

He immediately slumped to the floor where he repeatedly said "I just want to die, please let me die."

Jurors and members of the public gallery were visibly shaken and upset by what they were seeing and Nguyen, who had been on bail during the trial, continued his protests as he was overpowered by guards and taken into custody.

Retired Norman Barker, 68, saw what happened from the public gallery.

He said afterwards: "He said something like 'this is my last day on earth' or 'these are my last words' and then just slammed his head forward.

"I was just horrified. I was so horrified I actually had to turn away.

"With the force he hit it I though he must have split his head open or done some serious damage to himself.

"It was just after the verdict was announced, he headbutted the 10mm thick glass and collapsed to the ground."

Nguyen was convicted on October 16 and brought back to court the following day, with a bruise across his forehead, where Judge John Milford jailed him for six years.

He sat in the dock handcuffed to one of three guards in a bid to prevent further self harm.

The court heard Nguyen had hit and punched the victim during the attack last September.

He also told her she hoped she got pregnant and took photographs of her lying in a distressed state afterwards.

Nguyen, who had already been in the UK for a year, had offered to help the victim explore Newcastle but attacked her in her student accommodation flat.

The judge told him: "I have absolutely no doubt you planned, one way or another, you were going to have sexual intercourse with her.

"You refused to use contraception, expressing in effect the hope you would get her pregnant and furthermore you took those photographs.

"Another aggravating feature of this case is you attempted to apply pressure upon her to change her evidence right up to the night before the case actually started."

The judge added: "Following his conviction he took a stop forward and headbutted the screen, striking the top edge of it, and then fell to the floor shouting he wished to die."

Anne Richardson, defending, said Nguyen has never been in trouble before and has family in Vietnam who are desperately worried about him.

Miss Richardson had not objected to Nguyen being handcuffed and flanked for his own safety.

It is believed Nguyen may be automatically deported by the Home Office due to the conviction.