Man jailed for entering bedrooms of sleeping women

A 21-year-old student who broke into the homes of three women while they were asleep has been jailed.

Evan Powell entered the properties in the Brynmill area, Swansea during the early hours of 31 October 2024.

Judge Paul Thomas KC said he showed no remorse and described his behaviour as "of an extremely sinister nature".

At Swansea Crown Court on Thursday, Powell was sentenced to five years in prison and four years on extended license.

Warning: This article contains upsetting details

In May, after denying the charges, Powell was found guilty of three counts of trespassing with intent to commit a sexual offence, and one count of attempting to do so.

During the trial, the court heard that one woman woke at about 05:00 BST to find Powell, a stranger to her, standing in her bedroom.

She later discovered he had also entered her child's room and rummaged through drawers.

About an hour later, Powell entered a second nearby property.

The woman sleeping there woke to find him standing over her, masturbating with his genitals exposed.

He was chased from the house and police were called.

Powell, a former Swansea University student, then entered a third property, waking the resident by opening their bedroom door before fleeing.

He also attempted to enter a fourth property but was unsuccessful.

In a victim impact statement, one of the women said the incident had a "massive impact" on her family.

She added her son, who has ADHD and autism "woke to see a unknown strange man in the bedroom".

"It's had a massive impact on his daily routine," she said.

"He has had trouble with sleeping for months."

Judge Paul Thomas KC described Powell's actions as "opportunistic but nevertheless persistent," adding: "You prowled the streets of the student area looking for opportunities of non-consensual sexual activity.

"You carried on even when people discovered you in their property."

He dismissed Powell's defence - that he was searching for unnamed individuals and a lost mobile phone - as "ludicrous".

"You have no insight into your problem, and you do not acknowledge that you have one," the judge told him.

Mr Avirup Chaudhuri, defending Mr Powell, told the court how the defendant had some "issues" growing up despite coming from a "loving and caring background" and was away from his family at the time of the offences.

The court heard that Powell had no previous convictions, but police issued him with two community resolutions in October 2023, after he attacked two young women - one sexually and the other non-sexually - on Wine Street, Swansea.

Judge Thomas KC said that it's of "greatest regret that you were not properly dealt with at that time through the courts".

Carolina Mayorga-Williams from the Crown Prosecution Service said it takes all allegations of sexual offending "very seriously".

"Waking up to find a stranger in your or your child's bedroom must be a terrifying experience and violates a person's right to feel safe in their own home," she added.

Powell will serve two-thirds of his five-year prison term in custody before becoming eligible for release.

Judge Thomas also ordered Powell to sign the sex offenders register for life.