Neil Smith

Introduction

Neil Smith, 43, is a man from Loughton, Essex, who was jailed for eleven years after a jury at Reading Crown Court found him guilty of raping a woman during a two-hour attack at a Maidenhead hotel. Smith and his victim, a woman in her 20s, were staying at the Travelodge in Maidenhead together in September 2023 when the assault took place; on leaving the hotel she told staff what had happened, and they called the police. Smith fled but was arrested three days later. He was convicted of two counts of rape following a trial and sentenced in October 2026, and Thames Valley Police’s investigator in the case publicly credited the victim’s “remarkable bravery” in carrying the prosecution through an earlier adjournment caused by Smith’s own non-appearance.

Background Information

Smith was staying at the Travelodge in Maidenhead, Berkshire — a riverside town between Reading and Slough — on the September 2023 occasion on which the offences occurred. He was not a stranger to the victim: the two were staying at the hotel together, which is why her account of the two-hour attack carried the added weight of a betrayal by someone she had chosen to travel with. After she reported him, Smith ran, and it took police three days to catch him. The case then spent three years working through the criminal process, including an earlier trial that had to be adjourned after Smith failed to appear, before a jury finally convicted him on two counts of rape. He is from Loughton in Essex, across London from the county where the attack happened.

The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation

Convicted and sentenced. A jury found Smith guilty of two counts of rape after a trial at Reading Crown Court, and he was sentenced to eleven years in prison in October 2026.

The attack took place at the Travelodge in Maidenhead in September 2023 and lasted, in the court’s finding, about two hours. Smith’s victim was in her 20s. When she left the hotel she told staff what had happened to her, and hotel employees called the police immediately — the report that set the prosecution in motion. Smith fled the scene rather than waiting for officers, but was arrested three days later. He denied the offences and forced a trial, where a jury found him guilty of both counts of rape. The court then sentenced him to eleven years in prison.

The path to that verdict was not smooth: an earlier trial listing collapsed when Smith failed to appear, adjourning the proceedings. The victim remained committed to supporting the investigation through that delay and the retrial that followed, and the police investigator in the case said her persistence ensured the case was “brought before the court” despite the adjournment.

Public Reaction and Consequences

Thames Valley Police staff investigator Collette Gray said after sentencing that the woman had shown “remarkable bravery” in reporting Smith, and that the force was “pleased that the court has recognised the significant risk that Smith poses to women, particularly those who are vulnerable.” Gray added: “We hope this sentence provides the victim with a sense of justice and reassurance, while also protecting others from further harm.” The eleven-year term — a substantial sentence for a single-incident hotel rape — reflected both the jury’s rejection of Smith’s account and the court’s assessment of the danger he represents. The case also recorded the cost of a defendant absconding before trial: the adjournment prolonged the process by which the victim, in the police’s words, had already shown she would not be deterred.

Current Status

Smith is serving an eleven-year prison sentence imposed after his October 2026 conviction at Reading Crown Court. He will be subject to the arrangements that follow a rape conviction, including sex-offender registration. No appeal against the conviction or sentence was reported in the coverage of the sentencing. The conviction closed a case that began with a hotel-staff phone call in September 2023, ran through a three-day manhunt, an adjourned trial caused by his non-appearance, and a jury verdict three years later.

Impact on Their Career/Life

Smith, 43, enters prison in middle age with a rape conviction that will stay on his criminal record and on the sex-offenders register for life, shaping where he can live, work, and travel after release. The failure to appear at his first trial — the act that adjourned the case — now sits in the court record alongside the jury’s verdict as evidence of how he responded to being prosecuted. For the victim, the police’s public message at sentencing was framed as reassurance and protection; for Smith, the two-hour attack in a Maidenhead hotel has cost him roughly a decade of his life and a permanent registration as a sex offender.

Sources

• BBC News, “Man jailed for 11 years after raping woman at Maidenhead hotel.” source