Man guilty of threats to kill (From The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald)

Man guilty of threats to kill

8:19am Wednesday 21st February 2007 in Swindon By Gazette Reporter

A Swindon man has been found guilty of making threats to kill but a jury has so far failed to reach verdicts on other charges against him.

Darren Haakansen, 37, of Penhill, is before Bristol Crown Court also charged with attempted murder, two counts of rape and false imprisonment.

The jury, which began deliberating on Monday afternoon, delivered the verdict yesterday afternoon.

But it is still undecided on the other charges, so will meet today to try and reach a verdict.

The court has heard allegations that on July 10 last year Haakansen raped and falsely imprisoned a woman, before threatening to kill them both.

It is also alleged that after forcing the woman to drive him towards Reading, Haakansen grabbed the car steering wheel and crashed them into a 44-tonne lorry.

Speaking in court as a witness, Haakansen admitted that he had grabbed the woman by the throat three times, before trying to make a noose to kill himself.

He said he had then asked the woman if she wanted to have sex, which they did.

When asked if he thought she had consented, he said: "To me, someone taking their clothes off after being asked for sex is full consent."

On Monday prosecution counsel Adam Vaitilingam said Haakansen's claim that sex was consensual "beggared belief".

Defence counsel Tim Bradbury said far from being a menace, Haakansen's actions had been a cry for help.

He said: "You know he had taken many pills, you know he had been drinking vodka, you know he was in an emotional and distraught state.

"One thing you will not hear in any of these conversations is 'I'm going to kill us, I'm going to end it all'."