Vile texts show how two teenagers plotted to take advantage of a drunken woman before sexually assaulting a victim in a hotel room.
Alex Stormont and Taylor Johnson abused a vulnerable teenager while, in the words of Liverpool's top judge, she was "essentially asleep".
A disturbing trial heard how the pair, now 23 but both aged 19 at the time, discussed getting the woman "hammered and smashed".
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They booked a room at a Travelodge in Liverpool city centre and brought back the victim who "could barely stand up or walk".
A jury unanimously found them guilty of two counts of assault by penetration, after less than half an hour of deliberation.
Yet when they were locked up, Liverpool Crown Court heard remorseless Stormont still maintains his innocence.
His lawyer said damning messages sent between the pair ahead of the attack contained a lot of "male bravado and stupidity".
The ECHO can now publish those texts, revealing what they planned and their "appalling" remarks after the attack, including one truly sickening comment.
In the days leading up to the attack in March 2018, they talked on Snapchat about getting Johnson some "action" with the woman they would go on to abuse, which involved getting her back to a hotel room.
Screenshots from Snapchat showed the following conversation, reproduced exactly as it was written except for censoring of swear words:
Stormont: "Haha she could be the girl for our little dream of ours haha. The magic number is 3 haha x"
Johnson: "Oh f*** yeah"
Stormont: [Face with tears of joy emoji]
Johnson: "The question is which one is if gets which end. Which one of us gets which end I mean"
Stormont: "You get the frount and i get the a***? Xx and we both have the mouth haha x"
Johnson: "Yeah man I'm happy with that"
Stormont: "Ok jsut go to get her on bored with it haha x"
Johnson: "The way to that my friend is drunkness. Very drunk and hammered and smashed and s***faced"
Stormont: "Yer hahah sounds good plan haha got to go but talk more on later"
Four days later, in another chat, Stormont told Johnson "All just get drunk and make sure she does too hahaha xxx" to which Johnson replied: "Sure thing man"
They discussed another woman Johnson might be attracted to, which Stormont said meant he might have to "look after" the first woman they discussed.
He said: "The magic number is 4 not 3 haha x"
As the day approached, Johnson made the booking and the pair discussed whether they might be able to get both women back to the room.
Stormont said if not they could instead get "drunk slags", adding: "Haha Liverpool will be filled with then"
Johnson said the second woman they had planned to get back to the room might not be able to come out that night.
He said: "She's gonna try like if she does I'm getting her drunk and dragging her back myself maybe she won't be bothered that much when she's hammered"
Stormont replied "Yer that's what I'm thinking haha" and added "get her drunk and keep her out xx".
On the day of the attack, the pair discussed how the second woman couldn't go out that night, but the first woman they had talked about could.
Stormont said: "O ok ahaha I'll be a good night if we all get drunk and go back to be hotel ?????????? ?????? xxx"
Johnson replied: "Yeah sure we will indeed"
The trial heard how the victim couldn't remember getting into the hotel room, or into bed, but did recall being sick, when she thought Stormont was present.
Sarah Holt, prosecuting, said the woman recalled waking up to find Stormont performing a sex act on her and her saying "no" three times, before "blacking out", probably due to the alcohol she had consumed.
When she woke up later that morning, Stormont had gone, and Johnson explained to her this was because he was being sick.
Texts also showed the following conversation between Stormont and Johnson, as they discussed paying for a taxi to get their victim home.
Stormont: "Hi man did we get any action last night can't even remember getting to hotel I remember waking out it"
Johnson: "No mate I didn't she was deeply asleep. But you defo did. You tried out necrophilia for the first time ?????????? ???"
Stormont: "O s*** man Jesus well don't tell her haha don't want the police coming haha so keep that between us"
Johnson: "Yeah man sure okay"
Stormont: "Ok Jesus bro code that s*** !! Don’t let that go to anyone man"
Johnson: "No of course not mate"
Ms Holt said Johnson did tell the victim what Stormont had done to her - and that it happened without her consent - but didn't mention he had done it too.
The woman messaged Stormont, telling him she knew what he had done, when his responses ranged from begging her not to tell the police because he didn't want to go to prison, to telling her that she never said no.
However, he then revealed Johnson had also touched her sexually, which the shocked victim hadn't remembered, and Johnson had kept secret.
Texts show the woman contacted Johnson, who accepted he had performed sex acts on her, but said "didn't go all the way - I stopped at a certain point".
Stormont, of Woodchurch Road, Oxton, and Johnson, of Edgbaston Way, Bidston, then blocked their victim on Snapchat.
In one message, Stormont told Johnson "if she gets the police involved we need to stick together". In another, Johnson said he knew he had "joined in" and went on to say: "Hope things will just blow over after a few weeks"
When arrested and interviewed, the two men claimed they thought what happened was "consensual" and said the woman hadn't asked them to stop.
They would later suggest the content of the messages was "banter" and reference to "fantasy" scenarios.
However, the woman, who has since suffered depression and anxiety, said she could never forgive the pair for what they did.
In a statement read out at the sentence hearing, the victim also referred to the length of time it took to bring them to justice.
She said: "I have been in limbo. I have not wanted to do anything apart from hide away from the world until this is over."
Judge Andrew Menary, QC, said the full details of what happened in the hotel room would never be known, telling the two men: "Neither of you has told the truth, or the whole truth."
He said they performed sexual acts on the woman "when she was essentially asleep in the hotel room, incapable of giving consent to any sexual activity".
The judge said: "The contents of the messages… demonstrate that you both have an appalling attitude towards women generally, seeing them only as objects for sexual activity and showing clearly your shared fantasy that it might be possible to engage in some sort of sexual activity [with a woman] if she was sufficiently drunk.
"That was clearly the plan. That is, at least in part, why the hotel room was booked."
He concluded: "I have no doubt that you, Alex Stormont, took the lead in all of this and of the two of you, were by far the dominant character."
Sentencing both men to three and a half years in prison, Judge Menary said: "This was serious offending.
"In this day and age men, particularly young men like the two of you, who engage in sexual activity with females who do not consent to that activity, know full well that that behaviour is utterly wrong and indeed criminal."
Anyone with information or who wants to report a sexual offence allegation is asked to call 101, where you will be spoken to by specially trained officers, or you can pass information to Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111.
Support for victims is also available through the registered charity the Rape and Sexual Abuse Support Centre Cheshire and Merseyside, who can be contacted on 01925 221 546 or 0330 363 0063, or from Rape and Sexual Assault Merseyside (RASA) on 0151 558 1801.
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