'My rapist ex is being released early from prison, the system's a joke' - Leyland woman speaks out

A Leyland woman has been left ‘feeling sick to her stomach’ after learning her rapist has been granted early release from prison - just three years into his sentence.

Carly Royds was raped by her ex-partner Matthew Nicholson at her home in Leyland in December 2021, while her 13-year-old daughter was asleep in the room next door. He ignored her when she repeatedly told him she did not want to have sex and carried on after she told him to stop.

Nicholson, from Ingol, denied raping Carly but was found guilty and sentenced to nine years at Preston Crown Court in September 2023 - six years behind bars followed by three years on extended licence. He will also remain on the Sex Offender’s Register for life.

The sex offender was told he must serve two-thirds of his sentence before he would be eligible for parole in September 2027. But Nicholson will be free to leave prison this month - initially supervised and later unsupervised - to visit family and friends after being granted Release on Temporary Licence.

He will be eligible for ‘town leave’ once every fortnight and ‘home leave’ once a month, until his release from prison.

‘I feel sick and so mad - the system is a joke’

Carly has now chosen to waive her anonymity to speak out against her rapist’s early release and that of other sex offenders before they’ve served at least the minimum term of their sentence.

"He raped me while my child was in the room next door", she said. "He still doesn't have one ounce of remorse in his body. Not one bit.

“He’s barely three years into his nine year sentence and they’re allowing him to go home or wherever he likes on overnight leave.

“I feel sick and I’m mad. After everything it took for me to fight through a trial and get justice, being handed this news is heartbreaking.

“Judge Altham at Preston Crown Court called him ‘a serious risk to women’, yet here we are. The system is a cruel joke. It’s no wonder victims don’t always have the confidence to speak up.

“This is the reality of how the criminal justice system treats victims versus offenders and it needs to be exposed.”

‘I worry for my daughter - she’s terrified’

Carly also worries about her daughter, who was 13 at the time and recently turned 18. She said the teenager is terrified at the thought of bumping into Nicholson.

She said: “My daughter is mortified. It has taken her a long time to recover from the impact this has had on her mental health. We’re only just beginning to rebuild our life. She deserves to go out and not be worried about bumping into him. It would traumatise her.”

‘World turned upside down’

Carly said her world had been "turned upside down" by her experience, but says she will "use her voice for the rest of her life" to help women feel empowered to take their attackers to court.​

Following Nicholson’s conviction in 2023, the mum-of-two slammed Nicholson for not pleading guilty to the offences, saying: "Why didn’t you just admit what you did to me? Why drag me through a trial?”

She said: "Getting up on that stand was the most terrifying, awful thing I have ever experienced", and that having her police interviews played to the jury made her feel "dirty" and "degraded".

But despite wanting to walk off the stand, she didn't, because "I knew my voice had to be heard, not many women’s voices get to trial.”

‘No always means no’

Carly added: “I am no longer silenced. I did this for every woman and man that’s been through rape and any form of sexual abuse. No always means no.”

The pair met through mutual friends and began swapping messages on social media before embarking on a nine-month relationship, but it quickly turned sour, with Carly becoming concerned about Nicholson’s increasingly controlling behaviour and violent temper.

Carly said that the morning after the attack, she lay in bed in "absolute shock."​

She said: "I went into the deepest depression I’ve ever experienced. I even used to think some days what was the point of living? I can’t take the feelings or thoughts that I feel for the rest of my life."

As well as the prison sentence, Nicholson was ordered to sign the Sex Offenders Register for life and was made the subject of a 12 year restraining order preventing him from contacting Carly and her family.

Lindsay Hoyle ‘concerned’ by Nicholson’s early release

Sir Lindsay Hoyle, MP for Chorley and Speaker of the House of Commons, has also expressed his concern about Nicholson’s early release from custody.

Writing to the Minister for Prisons and Probation, Sir Lindsay said: “It concerns me greatly that a prisoner described by the sentencing judge as “a dangerous offender [who is] a significant risk of causing harm to other partners” can become eligible for release in whatever form, having served such a short proportion of his sentence.”

Sir Lindsay also included a copy of Judge Altham’s sentencing remarks, adding: “I would greatly appreciate it if these could be read in conjunction with any consideration to release this man”.

‘Let down by the system - again’

Carly says this is the second time she has been ‘let down by the system’. Prior to being raped by Nicholson, she had been left waiting two months for a police background check to find out whether Nicholson had a history of violence and abuse.

She was so worried about Nicholson's controlling behaviour she asked for information under Clare's Law, which can alert someone if their partner has a violent past.

Carly said it took 62 days for Lancashire Police to get back to her, and in that time she was raped by Nicholson in her own home. She learned at the end of his trial that he had been found guilty of attacking an ex-partner.

The police checks under Clare's Law were meant to take no more than 35 days.

"I rang Claire's Law for a disclosure in the November, three weeks after that he raped me,” she said.

"They only gave it [the background check] to me at the beginning of January when I was on my way to the police station to do an interview. It was too late by the time they'd rang me.”

‘He would threaten to kill himself. I was manipulated’

Carly added: “I rang Claire’s law to do a check on him and asked them for help to remove him out of my life, I told them that when I tried to end the relationship and if I blocked his number he would turn up at my house hurling abuse at me threatening to kill himself.

She said: “He would sit outside my house, in my back garden, in the bus stop across from my home watching my movements.

“He’d sit outside my places of work waiting for me to finish or go into my work asking who I work with, where I was. And if he wasn’t doing any of this, he was texting, calling me and accusing me of being with other men. It was never ending.

“My friends told me to be strong and get rid of him but when he was following me and making threats to kill himself how could I? I tried to end the relationship so many times. I was manipulated.

“Claire’s Law rang me back the day I was walking into a safe location to record my video interview with the police after he raped me. They said there was things to disclose on him. They were too late.”