Woman Assaulted in Travelodge After Key Given to Impostor

A woman was sexually assaulted in her room at a Travelodge hotel in Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, in December 2022 after staff handed a key card to a man who falsely claimed to be her boyfriend. The attacker, Kyran Smith, 29, from Staines in Surrey, entered the room in the early hours and assaulted her while she slept, leading to his conviction and a prison sentence of seven and a half years.

The victim, who cannot be named for legal reasons, had attended the same party as Smith earlier that evening but was not in a relationship with him. She locked her door before going to bed. Smith approached the reception desk, provided her name, and convinced staff he was her partner, passing basic security checks. He used the key card to gain access. The woman woke to find him in her bed. "I was just really confused. I knew I had locked my door," she later told reporters.

Following a four-day trial at Reading Crown Court in November, Smith was found guilty of trespass with intent to commit a sexual offense and sexual assault. He was sentenced in January. Police confirmed the details of the case, highlighting how the deception allowed the intrusion.

When the victim reported the incident to...