Latest Offenders

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A MUM has told of the horrifying moment she learned that her son had been targeted by a paedophile.

Ian Gregory was last week jailed for more than two years after admitting a string of sex charges against a young boy.

The mother of his victim said she felt sick when her son told her about the abuse.

The mum said: My son told me: Hes been doing things to me. I just felt sick when he told me.

Gregory, of Fellside Terrace, Stanley, near Gateshead, pleaded guilty to two counts of sexual assault of a child, two of causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity, one of causing a child to watch sexual images, and 14 counts of possession of prohibited images.

The abuse of the child, who was described as vulnerable in court, happened while Gregory was living in Basingstoke.

At Winchester Crown Court, Adrienne Knight, defending, said the 46-year-old had begun accessing indecent images of children online after he left the army five years ago, following an exemplary 12-year career.

She added the defendant had discovered he had an attraction to young boys after looking at images on the internet.

Mr Gregory says: I dont like myself for the way I feel. I didnt ask to be born like this, she said.

Its criminal and its awful but he cant help the way he was born. He wants to come out of this a better man.

Barnaby Shaw, prosecuting, said the offences have had a devastating effect on the victim and his mother, who have since had to move away from the area.

Speaking about the young victim, he said: He has difficulty sleeping and has been having nightmares, screaming out.

Mr Shaw said Gregory had not admitted to the sexual assault before the police found a video on his phone.

Sentencing Gregory to 25 months in prison, Judge Guy Boney said: You are a man of good character who had an exemplary army record for 12 years and you stand there at the moment covered, rightly, in shame for the offences you committed.

As well as jailing Gregory, the judge imposed a sexual offences prevention order and ordered that Gregory should be put on the sex offenders register for seven years.

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John Saxton, of Southcote Road, was convicted of three counts of raping a child under 13, one of sexual assault and one of causing a child to engage in sexual activity

Judge Peter Ross sentenced a 71-year-old West Reading man to 16 years' imprisonment for raping a child saying it was one of the worst cases he had dealt with.

He released the jurors from ever having to serve on a jury again saying he hoped the case would not "haunt" them.

He described the 999 call made by the girl who was eight when the abuse began and 10 when she hid in her wardrobe and called the police as "harrowing".

John Saxton, of Southcote Road, was convicted of three counts of raping a child under 13, one of sexual assault and one of causing a child to engage in sexual activity.

He was cleared of one count of rape and one of sexual assault.

After deliberating for more than 21 hours after a trial which lasted 14 days, the jury was unable to reach verdicts on the remaining seven counts - of a similar nature - which were left to lie on the file.

Judge Ross said Saxton had committed multiple rapes on the girl for a protracted period of two years.

The rapes involved oral sex and acts of "degradation" in which she described how Saxton took her into the lavatory and "used her as toilet paper".

Saxton also made the girl take part in "sexualised dancing" making her perform pole dancing and striptease sometimes using a game called Eat Me I'm Delicious in which he typed out commands on his computer in a mock TV show.

He said the effects on the girl were "truly terrible".

Speaking of a report sent to the court by a therapist who interviewed the girl, the judge told Saxton: "She used sexualised language and concepts which revealed the depth of corruption you have wrought upon her."

Judge Ross told Reading Crown Court yesterday Saxton maintained his control over the girl with a "truly evil threat" that he would turn on another child "so she continued to place herself in a sense as the sacrificial victim".

He said the girl had a complete breakdown after she reported the matter to the police, although the court heard she had since managed to settle back at school.

"The degree of harm that you have caused is simply enormous," said Judge Ross. "It is almost impossible to put into words the degree of harm."

He added: "She will bear the scars of that for the rest of her life."

The judge said of Saxton that the length of sentence he would impose "would have a not just life-changing, but possibly life-ending effect".

He sentenced him to five years for causing the girl to engage in "sexual dancing", 16 years for each of the three counts of oral rape and five years for sexual assault, all to run concurrently.

Saxton will remain on the sex offenders' register for life.

The judge praised the prosecution and defence barristers, the police officer in charge of the case and the control centre operator who took the 999 call, for their conduct the case.

He also praised the Reading Post/getreading for the way it has reported the trial.

After the hearing, the victim's father said: "We are very grateful to the jury and to the police."

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A married father of two from Fife who dubbed himself Papa Smurf as he sent sexually explicit texts to a teenage girl has narrowly avoided a jail sentence.

David Kidd admitted sending the messages to a 15-year-old girl he called Smurfette in March last year. The court previously heard the messages described a variety of sex acts.

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A predatory paedophile who groomed teenage girls for sex has been jailed for six years.

Duncan Alistair Morgan, 24, pressured two girls into having sex and abused two others after becoming an “attraction” to them, Newport Crown Court heard.

Prosecutor Jeremy Jenkins said the complaints against Morgan dated back to February 2011.

A police investigation, launched in June last year, uncovered evidence that Morgan was using his age to groom underage girls, he said.

“It became apparent from information that had been obtained that the defendant was associating with much younger children,” said Mr Jenkins. “It proved to be an attraction for these girls. He appeared laidback and cool, to use some of the expressions.”

Mr Jenkins said the first girl was at home when she was followed to an upstairs bedroom by Morgan who kissed her and put his hand down her trousers.

“He told her to forget about what happened and no-one else needed to know about it,” he said.

Mr Jenkins said Morgan targeted another underage girl by sending her flattering messages over Facebook.

“They were complimentary and designed to gain her attraction and her confidence,” he said.

He said Morgan, after convincing the girl to have sex with him over a car bonnet, sent a flurry of text messages offering to apologise.

A third victim, he said, was targeted for sex in a toilet.

The last victim had been drinking alcohol, but awoke to find Morgan with his hand down her trousers, he said.

“He took full advantage of his age and relative experience and independence to groom and attract these young girls,” said Mr Jenkins.

Morgan was arrested but denied all but one of his crimes to police, he told the court.

“He maintained that the girls were not telling the truth and denied, in some cases, that he knew of their ages.”

The case came to trial, but on the second day, Morgan, of Bridge Street, Abercarn, entered guilty pleas to the remaining charges.

Hugh Wallace, defending, said Morgan’s pleas had prevented the victims from having to give evidence.

Mr Wallace said Morgan, who pleaded guilty to five counts of sexual activity with a child, had penned a letter to Judge Daniel Williams outlining his difficult upbringing and expressing remorse.

“That must have been a difficult letter for him to write but he wrote it and it shows the life he’s had thus far has not been a pleasant experience.”

Jailing Morgan for a total of six years and three months, Judge Williams told him: “Your behaviour is properly described by the author of the pre-sentence report as predatory.

“Young girls have been put under pressure by you to have unwanted sex with you. They can never regain that which they have lost.”

Speaking after the hearing, Gwent Police Detective Sergeant Sarah Goodchild said: “We are pleased to see Duncan Morgan sentenced for the crimes he committed today.

“He consistently and deliberately befriended children then went on to sexually assault them. The impact of his crimes will undoubtedly have a long-lasting effect on the victims in this case, but it was their bravery in having the courage to come forward and give evidence that saw him brought to justice today.”

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AN 18-YEAR-OLD man has been jailed for raping a girl at his Knutsford Road home.

Adam Jones was sentenced to six years in prison at Birmingham Crown Court on Monday.

He was found guilty of one count of rape and one count of assault.

The court heard he attacked a teenage girl, known to him, on June 11 last year.

Police say they were lying on a bed together when he turned violent and raped her.

She managed to fight him off by elbowing him in the face.

In a separate attack two weeks earlier, Jones had beaten the same victim up, punched her to the face and ribs, knocking her unconscious.

She went to hospital and still suffers from blurred vision.

DC Laura Smith, from Cheshire Police, investigated the case.

She said: "Rape is an horrific offence, which affects victims in the most profound way.

“In this case the sexual offence was compounded by a serious assault, which could leave the young victim with lasting injuries.

"She has been incredibly brave throughout the case and was forced to relive the incident during the trial.

“I would like to thank the victim for her willingness to stand up to her attacker and see him brought to justice.

“I hope that the conclusion of this case will give her some closure and allow her to get on with her life.

"Cheshire Police is committed to tackling sexual violence and our Dedicated Rape Unit helps and supports victims of this type of crime.

"I hope this sentence - and the bravery shown by the victim - gives others who may have suffered in silence the courage to come forward."

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A child rapist who used Facebook to groom young girls before luring them to his home for sex has been jailed for more than six years.

Thomas Mayers, 20, “pestered” a 12-year-old girl on the social networking site for naked photos and repeatedly begged her to come to his house.

A court heard the girl eventually sent him some images and went to his home after he “would not leave her alone”.

He also persuaded 13-year-old to meet him for sex in a barn and at his home.

Shockingly, Mayers, who was 19 at the time of the offences last year, preyed on the school girls after he received a police caution for having sex with a 15-year-old.

Mayers admitted one charge of statutory child rape, two charges of sexual activity with a child and three other sexual offences involving the two girls at Stafford Crown Court.

Caging him for six years and nine months, Judge Amjad Nawaz told him: “You knew how old these girls were.

“They could not have given the impression they were significantly older. You had effectively pestered them to send photos having gained their confidence.

“When the 12-year-old told you she was too young and you told her she would be fine as though you were doing her a favour, it’s singularly unattractive.

“The caution ought to have been a warning to you, but it failed to have the effect.”

On Tuesday the court heard Mayers, of Stoke-on-Trent, Staffs., forced the 12-year-old girl into sex despite her telling him she was a child.

Prosecutor Stephen Bailey said: “She told him she was too young, but the defendant just said ‘you’ll be fine’.”

“The girl did not know what to do, so said ‘okay’ and they had sex on his bed.”

The pervert also met another 13-year-old girl in a local park and asked her for photos – which she refused – although she later had sex with him at his home and in a barn.

When he was arrested he told officers he believed the girls were older than they looked.

Michael Grey, defending, said: “Why did he not heed the caution? His instruction was he was more concerned with his parents.

“He had to leave his mother’s house and had to live with his grandparents.

“As part of the caution, he was sat down with a police officer and had explained what his behaviour meant to the girl.”

Mayers was also made subject to a Sexual Offences Prevention Order banning him from living with girls under 16 and unsupervised contact with girls under 18.

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FOR two years he had kept his shame a secret.

Unknown to his wife, Philip Cant had recorded a 80-minute video of him molesting a young girl who he had lured to a room where he had set up cameras to film them.

The youngster had legitimately posed for pictures to help the paedophile and his wife promote their children’s clothing business.

Cant kept the video, which also showed shots of the girl semi-naked, on a computer memory stick for future viewing for his own sexual gratification.

And he got away with it – until he worked abroad as an engineer in Belgium.

A colleague found the stick, discovered the images and called police in Antwerp. They arrested Cant and notified colleagues in England.

Cant admitted assaulting the girl and keeping the images.

Gavin Sumpter, prosecuting at Southampton Crown Court, said: “He admitted in interview he was a paedophile and had been since he was 15-year-old, with a preference for girls aged between six and eight.”

Cant, 55, of Myrtle Road, Southampton, pleaded guilty to two charges of sexual assault and four of making an indecent image. He received a four-year jail term with a six-year extended licence.

The court heard Cant had two significant previous convictions. In 1972 he admitted sexually abusing an eight-year-old and in 1989 he had committed gross indecency with a five-year-old.

Sentencing, Judge Derwin Hope said: “You have acknowledged you can’t be alone with young girls and not abuse them. You pose a significant risk of causing significant harm to the public.”

The judge ordered Cant to be placed on the sex offenders’ register and the subject of a sexual offences prevention order, both indefinitely.

In mitigation, Neil Fitzgibbon said Cant was ashamed of his behaviour and had referred himself for psychological assessment to try to combat his desires.

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A British man caught in an undercover US and UK police operation has been jailed for trying to arrange for a child to be abused to order online.

Mark Luscombe, 29, of Verwood, Dorset, contacted a US Homeland Security officer who was posing as a paedophile.

He offered to send the officer indecent images of children in exchange for watching a girl being abused on webcam.

Luscombe was sentenced to five years in jail after pleading guilty to 16 sexual offences at Bournemouth Crown Court.

'Wired differently'

When he was arrested at his home near Bournemouth in December, police found more than 150 indecent images of children on his computer.

During questioning Luscombe told officers he was "wired differently".

Matthew J Etre, attach for US Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in London, said: "Protecting children from exploitation is one of the most important missions we have and, as this case demonstrates, it takes the collaboration of law enforcement agencies around the world to tackle this crime."

At a previous appearance, Luscombe pleaded guilty to sexual activity with a child and arranging or facilitating the commission of a child sex offence, as well as eight counts of making indecent photographs of a child and five counts of distributing indecent photographs of a child,

He also pleaded guilty to another offence of possessing an extreme pornographic image.

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A GIFTED schoolboy musician walked scot-free from court despite admitting sexually assaulting a 15-year-old girl in classroom cupboard.

Karl Henderson, 17, described as the most talented musician his school has ever seen, molested the girl at a Stirlingshire high school by touching her bottom and breasts, trying to kiss her and touching himself while holding her against him.

Despite pleading guilty to the charge on indictment, Henderson, who was 16 at the time of the assault last year, told police that it was consensual.

Sheriff John Mundy took what he called the exceptional step of handing Henderson an absolute discharge, saying he found it hard to determine what actually happened. The decision prompted an angry reaction from the family of the girl, who shouted, dont be molesting any more children as Henderson left the dock at Falkirk Sheriff Court.

The incident occurred on January 14 2013 when Henderson and the girl went to a music classroom during one of their lessons.

Police detained Henderson on January 16 where he said everything was consensual and denied holding her against her will.

Forensic examination showed traces of his semen on her skirt.

The girl told police that she had been having nightmares over the incident.

Henderson, of Grahamshill Terrace, Fankerton, Denny, Stirlingshire, pleaded guilty to the charges.

Gordon Addison, defending, said that despite the girl being 15, there was only six months between the pair in age.

He said: No school in the local area will take him if he is placed on the sex offenders register.

This young man is highly intelligent but his whole life will be disturbed unfairly. Society loses a very talented, very bright young man over a situation that happened in minutes between two teens in a high school cupboard.

He has been described as the most talented musician the school has ever had. Sheriff Mundy told Henderson: Im going to take a highly unusual step in the circumstances, I think its an exceptional case. It is one that is brought on indictment which makes it more exceptional. Im going to give you an absolute discharge. Henderson was not placed on the sex offenders register.

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A MIDDLE-AGED father has been jailed for having sex with a 15-year-old schoolgirl in a lay-by after picking her up from her school during her lunch break.

Gary Sparkes befriended the teenager after persuading her parents to let her come with him to show him the way around country roads near Cullompton while on a business trip in the area.

He won her trust by exchanging a stream of text messages before having sex with her in his car in the layby and at his home in Exmouth, Exeter Crown Court was told.

Father-of-two Sparkes, 49, of Tennyson Way, Exmouth, admitted four offences of sexual activity with a child and was jailed for two years by Judge Francis Gilbert, QC.

The judge told him: ”You had sexual intercourse with a 15-year-old schoolgirl, who was the daughter of a family who were friends of yours. She was young enough to be your daughter.

“You had sex with her at your house and in addition you drove to Cullompton to have sex with her in the back of your car during a school lunch break.”

Sean Brunton, prosecuting, said the offences came to light when the victim’s older sister found suspicious messages on her Facebook page and her parents went to the police.

The girl was interviewed and said she and Sparkes had sex four times during a three month relationship, including once in the back of his car in a layby.

Mr Brunton said: ”She said the relationship started on Facebook and they arranged to meet to have sex. At one time she thought she might be pregnant but this was not the case.

“Her father recalled getting a text message from Sparkes asking to take his daughter out in his car as navigator as he was working in Mid Devon.”

Sparkes sent the girl 95 text messages and she sent him 125 and the Facebook conversations covered 500 pages.

Rupert Taylor, defending, said Sparkes is lucky in that his wife and two grown up children are standing behind him. He said he deserves credit for accepting he had done wrong and sparing the victim the need to go to court.

He said: ”At the time this happened he was depressed and on medication and was very grateful for the company. They became close friends and she told him she was attracted to him. He knows as an adult he should not have done this.”

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AN evil rapist and paedophile who abused victims as young as eight has been jailed for 18 years - after admitting a 15-year reign of terror.

Glen Turton, 59, groomed, raped and assaulted his innocent victims.

As well as being put behind bars, he was also placed on the sex offenders' register and banned from working with children for life.

The former fairground worker and roadie pleaded guilty to a catalogue of offences.

He admitted 16 counts of rape and indecent/sexual assault over a 15-year period.

His abused victims ranged in age from as young as eight to 20.

Turton, of Burrows Grove, Wombwell, a three times divorcee, pleaded guilty to all 16 counts when he appeared at Sheffield Crown Court last month.

A friend of one of his victims spoke of fears that Turton may have subjected other victims to horrific abuse and appealed to them to still come forward.

He said: "We have good reason to believe there are other victims out there and that he has been committing offences of this type for even longer than 15 years.

"I would appeal to any victims to come forward.

"It's not likely to make much difference to his jail sentence, but it will allow those victims whose lives he has ruined to at last start to move on.

"The man was a monster, totally lacking in human compassion. He was evil personified.

"Everyone involved now want to try to rebuild their shattered lives. We all hope he rots in jail and is never ever allowed out."

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Peter Gibson, from Middlesbrough, was jailed in November 2013 for 13 years and six months after pleading guilty to 15 sexual offences against the girls.

The offences included four counts of rape of a young girl in the 1990s and took place in Gibsons former home in Bowburn.

At the time of Gibsons sentencing, aged 66, Durham Crown Court heard he had a record of sexual offences dating back to 1967.

In 1998 he was sentenced to six years for the rape of a child. He was also placed on the sex offenders register for life.

Jailing Gibson, of The Crescent, Middlesbrough, in 2013, Judge Christopher Prince told him: You have a long-standing sexual predilection for young children.

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HE posted vile pictures of young girls being abused on the Internet that were beamed around the world.

Richard Couzens thought his sickening behaviour would go undetected after uploading the images to a Russian website via his mobile phone.

Now the 30-year-old from Southampton has been brought to justice - with the help of eagle eyed police using clever technology on the other side of the world.

Southampton Crown Court heard how Australian police officers discovered the sordid images on a Russian website and set about finding out who was responsible for them.

Using the latest techniques to solve cyber crime they began tracking the images - leading them straight to the door of Couzens, from Chettle Road, Southampton.

The information was passed on to detectives from Hampshire police who arrested Couzens and took him in for questioning.

Prosecutor Christopher Wing told the city crown court how he confessed to police that he had taken pictures of a youngster who he also sexually abused. He posted them on the Internet along with others of children aged between three and eleven - blaming his actions on his addiction for images of young girls.

Couzens, 30, admitted 20 charges of taking and making indecent images, distributing them and assault by penetration.

He was jailed for 10 years with a five year extended licence. He was also placed on the sex offenders register and made the subject of a sexual offences prevention order, both for life.

Jailing him, Judge Derwin Hope told Couzens: “You committed a serious breach of trust.

“You took pictures of this girl and then distributed them over the web for other like minded people.

“This was particularly shocking and illustrates the deep seated nature of your perversion that has manifested for more than five years.”

The judge told Couzens he represented a significant risk to the public, especially to young girls, and extended his licence because he considered him dangerous.

In mitigation, Susan Ridge told the court how Couzens had struggled with his addiction and though he wanted help, he felt unable to do it.

“He is deeply remorseful and greatly distressed at what he has done. He is ashamed of what he has done and knows he will he will go away for a long time and the impact it will have on his family.”

Couzens, who she added was motivated to address his offending in prison, was of previous good character.

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Lostprophets singer Ian Watkins has been sentenced to 35 years for a string of child sex offences including the attempted rape of a baby.

Watkins, 36, from Pontypridd, pleaded guilty at Cardiff Crown Court last month to 13 child sex offences.

His two co-defendants, who are the mothers of children he abused, were jailed for 14 and 17 years.

Sentencing the three, Mr Justice Royce said the case broke "new ground" and "plunged into new depths of depravity".

Watkins was sentenced to 29 years in prison with a further six years on licence, but he will be eligible for parole after serving two thirds of the prison term.

He was sentenced alongside the two mothers known as Woman A and Woman B who also pleaded guilty to child abuse charges.

Woman A was jailed for 14 years and Woman B was sentenced to 17 years in prison.

Watkins admitted the attempted rape and sexual assault of a child under 13 but pleaded not guilty to rape.

He also admitted conspiring to rape a child, three counts of sexual assault involving children, seven involving taking, making or possessing indecent images of children and one of possessing an extreme pornographic image involving a sex act on an animal.

During sentencing, Mr Justice Royce said: "Those who have appeared in these courts over many years, see here, a large number of horrific cases," he said.

"This case breaks new ground. Any decent person... will experience shock, revulsion and incredulity."

He added it was a "classic case that the evidence was so overwhelming" there should not be credit given.

The judge said Watkins had a "corrupting influence", and had shown a "complete lack of remorse". He also said Watkins posed a significant risk to the public in particular to women with young children.

He told Woman A: "What you were both doing is both sickening and incomprehensible" and said to Woman B that she did not regard her child as a human being.

Earlier on Wednesday, defending barrister Sally O'Neill QC said how Watkins "belatedly realised the gravity of what happened" and was "deeply, deeply sorry".

She told the court how he had developed an "obsession" with filming himself having sex and had become addicted to drugs at the age of 30.

She said Watkins had no memory of the crime involving Woman A and her son, where he admitted to the attempted rape of a baby.

"Because he had no memory he could not believe he had done that," she said, adding he had now "confronted reality" over what he had done.

Watkins was on 15-minute suicide watch while on remand, the court heard.

Jonathan Fuller QC, defending for Woman A, said she felt genuine remorse and was devastated by what she had done.

Christine Laing QC, defending Woman B, said she was clearly remorseful for her behaviour and the loss of her child was her punishment.

Meanwhile, South Wales Police are investigating whether Watkins also committed offences in Germany and America and the IPCC has confirmed it was investigating three police forces over the case.

Detective Chief Inspector Peter Doyle, senior investigating officer, said the sentences reflected the gravity of the crimes and the investigation uncovered "the most disturbing child abuse evidence" he had seen in his 28 years as an officer.

"Today's sentence does not mark the end of our investigations and we will work tirelessly to identify any other victims or witnesses and seek the justice they deserve.

"In the last few weeks we have received further information that will now be looked at by the investigation team."

Earlier he said the investigation was large scale because the amount of data involved - 27 terabytes - was "four or five times" the size of the databases held by South Wales Police.

And he said how he was sure there were other child victims.

Suzanne Thomas, Senior Crown Prosecutor at CPS Wales, said Watkins was the ringleader and the defendants conspired to commit "appalling crimes of abuse against young and defenceless victims".

She added: "He is a highly dangerous and manipulative individual who preyed on his victims in a calculated manner.

"The other two defendants were active participants in the most shocking abuse of their own children. They too have received sentences that reflect their admissions of guilt for these offences.

"It is incomprehensible that adults would commit such appalling acts against children and young people and our thoughts remain with the victims and those close to them."

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A burglar returned to his victims home to rape her, four years after he was jailed for the crime.

Ashley Mills broke into the womans house with an iron bar as she slept alone. Once she woke up, the 28-year-old grabbed a knife, headbutted her and said chillingly: Ive come to rape you.

Police have now praised the womans quick thinking after she hid evidence that saw him sentenced to 18 years in prison.

But the victim, known only as Linda, said the attack has left her frightened to stay in her own home. She added: Sometimes when victims are killed, I think they are the lucky ones. They dont keep reliving the horror of it all any more.

The survivors have to live with this for the rest of their lives. Im grateful to be alive but now have all of the life-changing problems Im facing.

The 59-year-old, from Hampshire, had originally taken pity on Mills as he didnt have a place to stay.

She met him in 2009, when she let him pitch his tent in the fields behind her rural home. He later broke into the property and was jailed in 2010.

In June this year, he smashed through the front door of her home again and asked for a glass of water.

He warned that he would stab her if she tried to run away. She added: I just had to submit and he did what he wanted. His attack on me was long. He was in no hurry to get it over with.

Spotting Mills had dropped the knife and iron bar, she kicked the blade under the cooker and dropped the bar behind her sofa. Hes a dangerous person. Hes got no respect, she said. I wanted him to have a big sentence so he cant come out and do it again.

At Portsmouth crown court, Mills pleaded guilty to three counts of rape. Det Sgt Glenn Robinson said: The victim has shown great courage in coming forward.