A rape victim wants bail laws changed after she bumped into her attacker – who was allowed to roam free for more than three years – in the supermarket.

Kayleigh Keasley, now 24, was assaulted after a night out with friends in Milton Keynes in December 2019.

Her attacker Craig Burnikell – a friend of a friend – was arrested just a week after the incident. But he wasn’t charged until February 2021 – and was only jailed earlier this month.

Kayleigh – who has bravely waived her anonymity to speak out – says the courts process was “horrible and long-winded”. And she is now campaigning for bail law reform after her encounter with Burnikell.

Kayleigh said: “I started a petition to tighten bail conditions on bailed rapists. What they are allowed to do after being charged and convicted is ridiculous. You wouldn’t let a murderer out on the street.

“He was still out on the streets and could easily do it to someone else in the meantime. By leaving it that long they’re giving him the chance to do it to other girls.

“Two weeks after the incident happened and I’d reported it to the police, I went to Tesco and saw him in the shop. I threw my trolley and ran out the shop and now I can’t go to the shop on my own.”

Kayleigh, from Milton Keynes, was attacked by Burnikell, now, 26, as she slept in his house following a night out in the Buckinghamshire city.

She was supposed to return home but, after the pair shared a taxi, she realised her bag and phone had gone missing. This left her unable to pay the taxi fare – so Burnikell offered her a place to sleep in a guest room at his home.

A court heard she then woke during the night to find the predator raping her. HGV driver Burnikell, from Coffee Hall, Milton Keynes, was arrested on December 20, 2019 – a week after the attack. But he wasn’t charged until February 18, 2021.

A court date was set for April 4, 2022. But this was adjourned after a day due to a juror being unwell. The trial was then rescheduled – and ended in a hung jury.

A retrial took place in April 2023, where her attacker was convicted of rape. But he was not remanded and continued on bail until he was sentenced on June 13, 2023 at Aylesbury crown court.

Burnikell was found guilty on one count of rape and was handed eight years in prison. But Kayleigh, a national communications centre supervisor, says the wait for justice was debilitating.

She said: “I used to be that girl that would go anywhere on my own and would want to go travelling on my own – but now that sounds petrifying.

“It was horrible, I don’t think [prosecutors] realise – every single day I felt like I had a weight on my shoulders as it wasn’t over and not done.

“My main reason for going to the police was that I could not forgive myself if I found out he did it to someone else – all I wanted was to stop it from happening and they were giving him the chance to do it again.”

Kayleigh says she now wants to change the law which allows individuals charged with rape to access bail and believes the crime should be treated similarly to murder, which has heavy restrictions on access to bail.

“It’s a very taboo subject that people don’t really talk about – there’s an embarrassment attached to it when there shouldn’t be,” said Kayleigh. “I’m not embarrassed about it and don’t think anyone else should be the way its dealt is with diabolical really.

“I want the justice system to actually consider what kind of offence it was – I believe from day one I’ve just been known as a number, and I think they’ve just dealt with it as another case.

“It’s made me feel like less of myself but now I know I’ve won it’s coming back, I’m one of the 0.3% of women who get to this stage.

“There are issues within the justice system that not a lot of people would be able to handle but don’t hesitate to report these crimes anyway.“I’ve been through the horrible and long-winded process and got to where I am now so it’s still worth it.”

A report published earlier this year found that delays to rape trials are “devastating” for victims. The Breaking Point report – published by Rape Crisis England & Wales – found victims have an average wait of 839 days (around 2.3 years) from report to completion in court.

Kayleigh’s petition to change bail conditions for charged rapists can be found here.