PALMA, Spain, Feb. 6 (UPI) -- A British model rejoiced on her Facebook page Tuesday after a waiter was sentenced to 23 years in a Spanish prison for raping and trying to kill her.
A court in Palma, Majorca, convicted Mohamed Fadel El Anssari of sexual assault and attempted murder, the Daily Mirror reported. A court official said the judges sentenced him to 11 years on the first charge and 12 on the second.
On Facebook, Cheryl Maddison said she learned of the sentence by telephone.
"It's been a tough 4 and 1/2 years! Even tougher month last last month having to go to Spain nd face my fears in court," she said. "But it's all been worth it.....absolutely over the moon to say he's been sentenced to 23 years!!! I hope the b*****d rotts!!!!!!!!"
Maddison, from County Durham in northern England, moved to Majorca to work in a bar in 2008. The court found El Anssari, a Moroccan immigrant, followed her home from work, raped her in her apartment and then stabbed her, leaving her for dead.
Since recovering from her injuries, Maddison has become a model.
Her cousin, Lynn Armstrong, praised Maddison in a comment to the Mirror story: "She has turned her life around and made herself an amazing little life and she has worked damn hard at her modeling career."
