'It took 20 years but I brought my rapist to justice'

Dan Cooper has decided to waive his anonymity to encourage others to go to the police

It was while serving on a jury in 2018 that Dan Cooper said he had realised he needed to pursue justice for himself after being raped in 2004.

"When I heard the people giving evidence, I could literally see myself in the same situation," Dan said after waiving his right to anonymity to share his story.

After the trial, the now 39-year-old from Watton, Norfolk, decided to go to Norfolk Police again and report his attacker.

On 27 February 2024, 20 years after the attack took place, Shaun Gilder, from Oulton Broad, Suffolk, was sentenced to eight years in prison after being convicted of two counts of rape and one count of assault by penetration.

Warning - this article contains distressing content

Dan was 17 when he met 21-year-old Shaun Gilder in Norwich in 2004 and their encounter developed into his first relationship.

On a Saturday evening in May that year, the couple had been to a barbecue when Gilder got drunk and asked Dan to drive him home.

At about midnight Gilder told Dan to stop the car on a quiet road behind the James Paget Hospital in Gorleston, Norfolk.

Gilder attacked Dan and left him with serious internal injuries which led him to being admitted to hospital three times that summer.

Traumatised, Dan was somehow able to drive Gilder home before returning to his mum's house.

"I lay in bed for hours thinking, 'what has just happened? what had just gone on?'," he said.

Shaun Gilder was sentenced to eight years almost two decades after he carried out the rape

The following September, Dan went to the police and reported the attack.

Dan said he had provided a statement at the time, but it did not proceed any further because he was "extremely unwell at that point".

His grandparents and other family members did not know he was gay, he added.

"Life was different back then," he said.

Dan is now project manager for the civil service but he previously worked in a prison, where he said he would find himself holding back tears when inmates discussed their own abuse.

He added he was assaulted on the job, which also led to flashbacks.

"Then the jury service. Flashbacks back to the rape again. It was a non-stop cycle that needed to stop," he said.

The female witnesses who helped secure a conviction in the 2018 trial in which he was a jury member were "inspirational", according to Dan.

"It was just remarkable to see them going up and giving evidence and dealing with the difficult questions being thrown their way," he said.

"I was working at Stansted Airport as an immigration officer at this time and I had to take three weeks off sick.

"It was then that I re-reported [the attack] to the police and I asked them to take it forward for me, which they said they could do," he added.

Graphic evidence

Two Norfolk Police detectives were assigned to Dan's case in 2018 and it proceeded to a charge and trial at Norwich Crown Court in November 2023.

In his victim impact statement, Dan described how he had been diagnosed with complex post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) linked to the rape.

"I have had, and still have, regular thoughts of suicide," he wrote.

A quarter of adult women and about 6% of adult men have been the victims of sexual assault, or attempted sexual assault, according to the Crime Survey for England and Wales.

A 2024 study by Manchester Metropolitan University found 44% of 180 people who were exposed to graphic evidence in court reported symptoms consistent with PTSD.

"Past trauma experiences, mental health difficulties and immediate stress responses during a trial can exacerbate emotional and stress reactions," the researchers wrote.

Dan's mother, Nicki Duffield, says "there was a rage like a fire burning inside me" when she confronted her son's attacker

Back in 2004, Dan's mother, Nicki Duffield, confronted Gilder when he came to see her son in hospital after Dan had told her what had happened.

"There was a rage like a fire burning inside me. I was so angry," she recalled.

Gilder left and it was the last time she saw him.

When speaking to her son, she said: "I felt so proud of you for sticking by what you believed in and taking it all the way through. It was justice for you. You'd worked so hard.

"Mentally it had really taken a toll on you and we could see how you struggled."

Dan said his current work as an on-call firefighter for Norfolk Fire and Rescue Service had helped him with the healing process.

"Doing this for the community has given me something to focus on and live for," he said.

Dan said he now enjoyed caring for his three dogs, mountain bikes and travelling.

Since May he has started to make videos about his experience and posts them on social media, where he now has 12,000 followers on TikTok.

"It's helped a lot of people. The amount of private messages I've had to say it's helped others is immense," he said. "I've got to do this."

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