It took 20 years but he brought his rapist to justice

A man who waited two decades to pursue criminal justice after being raped in 2004 saw his attacker convicted and sentenced to eight years in prison on 27 February 2024.

Dan Cooper, from Watton, Norfolk, waived his right to anonymity to encourage other survivors to come forward after Shaun Gilder, from Oulton Broad, Suffolk, was found guilty of two counts of rape and one count of assault by penetration at Norwich Crown Court. Cooper said he had decided to re-report the attack to Norfolk Police after serving on a jury in 2018.

Cooper was 17 when he met Gilder, then 21, in Norwich in 2004. The relationship developed after they met, but in May of that year Cooper says Gilder, intoxicated after a barbecue, asked him to drive him home and then attacked him on a quiet road behind James Paget Hospital in Gorleston. Cooper was left with serious internal injuries and was admitted to hospital three times that summer, he said.

Cooper reported the incident to police in September 2004 and gave a statement, but the case did not proceed at that time, and he said he was "extremely unwell". He kept the assault largely private; some family members did not know he was gay. He later worked in a prison and in immigration services and said he experienced flashbacks and distress while doing those jobs.

While serving on a jury in 2018, Cooper said he recognised aspects of his own experience in the evidence of female witnesses and was prompted to take further action. He re-reported the attack to Norfolk Police, who assigned two detectives to the case. The matter progressed to charge and a trial in November 2023, which resulted in the convictions.

In a victim impact statement read at sentencing, Cooper described a diagnosis of complex post-traumatic stress disorder linked to the rape and said he had "regular thoughts of suicide." Cooper said the process of seeking justice had taken a heavy mental toll: "It was a non-stop cycle that needed to stop," he told reporters after waiving anonymity.

Cooper’s mother, Nicki Duffield, told the BBC she confronted Gilder in 2004 after her son disclosed what had happened, and that seeing the conviction was "justice for you. You'd worked so hard." She added that the assault had taken a toll on her son’s mental health.

Cooper said that volunteering as an on-call firefighter and caring for his dogs, mountain biking and travel had helped his recovery. Since May he has also posted videos about his experience on social media, where he has gathered about 12,000 followers on TikTok and said the messages he receives show his story has helped others.

A Crime Survey for England and Wales estimate cited by the reporting indicates that roughly one-quarter of adult women and about 6% of adult men have been victims of sexual assault or attempted sexual assault. A 2024 study by Manchester Metropolitan University found that 44% of 180 people exposed to graphic evidence in court reported symptoms consistent with PTSD, and the researchers warned that past trauma and immediate stress reactions during a trial can exacerbate emotional responses.

Two Norfolk Police detectives led the reinvestigation after Cooper re-reported the 2004 attack in 2018. At trial the jury convicted Gilder on two counts of rape and one count of assault by penetration; he was sentenced to eight years in prison on 27 February 2024.

Cooper said he hoped publicly sharing his experience would encourage other survivors to report abuse. "I've got to do this," he said, adding that speaking out had allowed him to help others who had been through similar experiences.

If readers are affected by the issues raised in this article, support is available through local and national victim support services and helplines.