Keno Allen was sentenced to 12 years in prison on Monday morning for attacking a woman in an alleyway in 2012.

In handing down her decision, Justice Ann-Marie Smith called Mr. Allen a “danger to women” and described his attack as “planned and premeditated.”

Mr. Allen was given 12 years for robbery, three years for indecent assault, and three years for attempting to choke. All sentences will run concurrently.

The defendant has been on remand since 2012, and will therefore only serve six more years at most.

Allegations

On May 11, 2012, a woman was making her way to The Dove restaurant on Main Street when a man approached her before she reached the entrance, prosecutors have said previously.

The two spoke for a few moments and Mr. Allen allegedly grabbed her, pulled her into a nearby alley and began to choke her and sexually assault her.

Among those who have given evidence previously in this matter was Phillip Kite, who witnessed the attack after hearing the woman’s muffled screams from the alley near his office at Harneys law firm.

“I looked down the alleyway and saw a woman with a man over her,” Mr. Kite told the court. “The lady was flat on her back.”

The witness said he ran into the alley, and the attacker quickly jumped up and fled the scene. After the attack, Mr. Kite said, he and his wife, who was nearby, managed to calm the woman down enough for her to tell them what happened.

Retrial

In 2013, Mr. Allen was sentenced to 15 years for attempting to choke, 10 years for robbery and two years for indecent assault. All the sentences were to run concurrently.

But in January 2016, the conviction was quashed on various grounds in the Court of Appeal and Mr. Allen’s sentence was set aside.

In February 2017, however, a retrial began. According to officials at the High Court at the time, the trial was being held in camera, meaning that the media and other members of the public were barred.

The retrial apparently ended in a mistrial in 2017, according to Mr. Allen’s defence attorney David Penn, who said at the time that a third trial would be held at a later date.

Mr. Allen appeared in High Court for his latest sentence on Monday.