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While serving on a jury panel in 2018, the individual understood he must chase legal recourse for his own case following raped in 2004.

Listening to the people testifying, I could literally see myself in the identical scenario,” the survivor shared after waiving his confidentiality privilege.

Following the court case, the presently 39-year-old from the town of Watton decided to approach local authorities a second time to detail his attacker.

On 27 February 2024, two decades after the attack, Shaun Gilder from the area of Oulton Broad was given a term of an eight-year sentence in jail after being convicted of two counts of rape and a single charge of penetrative assault.

Dan was 17 years old when he encountered then 21-year-old the perpetrator in Norwich in 2004, and their encounter developed into his earliest partnership.

During a weekend evening in May that year, the duo had attended a BBQ when the assailant became intoxicated and requested Dan to transport him home.

Around midnight, Gilder told Dan to halt the vehicle on a secluded street adjacent to the medical facility in Gorleston.

The assailant violated Dan and left him with significant internal harm which resulted in him being taken to the hospital on three occasions that season.

Severely shaken, Dan was managed to drive Gilder home before heading to his mom’s home.

“I lay in bed for hours wondering, ‘what just occurred? what was that?’,” he stated.

In September that year, Dan contacted the authorities and reported the incident.

Dan said he had submitted a report at the time, but it was not advanced any further because he was “very ill at that point”.

His family members and additional relatives had no idea he was gay, he added.

“Times were unlike at that time,” he said.

Presently, the survivor serves as a project manager for the civil service, but he had earlier been employed in a prison, where he said he would find himself holding back tears when detainees discussed their own trauma.

He further stated he was assaulted on the job, which also resulted in recurring memories.

“Subsequently, during jury duty. Flashbacks back to the rape anew. It was a continuous loop that had to end,” he said.

The female witnesses who helped secure a conviction in the 2018 court case in which he was a juror were “empowering”, as stated by Dan.

“It was profoundly impactful to see them going up and sharing their accounts and dealing with the difficult questions being thrown their way,” he commented.

“I was working at the airport as an border agent at this time, and I had to take three weeks off due to illness.

“It was then that I again disclosed [the attack] to the authorities and I petitioned to take it forward for me, which they agreed to,” he continued.

Disturbing Testimony

A pair of investigators from Norfolk Police were assigned to Dan’s case in 2018, and it proceeded to a legal proceedings at the crown court in late 2023.

In his victim impact statement, Dan explained how he had been found to have complex PTSD (PTSD) associated with the violation.

“I’ve experienced, and continue to have, recurring contemplations of ending my life,” he stated.

A quarter of adult women and approximately 6% of adult men have been affected by sexual assault, or unsuccessful attacks, based on the national crime survey.

A recent study found that forty-four percent of 180 individuals who were subjected to disturbing content in court reported signs resembling PTSD.

“Historic incidents, mental health difficulties and instant stress reactions during a trial can exacerbate emotional and stress reactions,” experts highlighted.

In 2004, The survivor’s parent approached the assailant when he visited her son in hospital after Dan had told her what had happened.

“I felt furious similar to flames inside me. I was extremely upset,” she recalled.

The perpetrator departed and it was the final occasion she laid eyes on him.

In conversation with her son, she remarked: “I was immensely proud of you for adhering to what you had faith in and seeing it through. It was your justice. You’d strived intensely.

“Psychologically, it really taken a toll on you and we could observe how you had difficulties.”

The survivor explained his existing position as an fire service volunteer for Norfolk Fire and Rescue Service had helped him with the emotional rehabilitation.

“Serving the local residents has offered me something to focus on and find purpose in,” he expressed.

Dan said he now enjoyed his canine companions, biking and exploring new places.

Since May he has begun creating videos about his experience and shares them on digital networks, where he now has a following of 12,000 on the video app.

“It’s helped a numerous others. The quantity of direct communications I’ve had to express it’s helped others is substantial,” he commented. “{I’ve got to do