Darren Sysum 32

Description

A "depraved" rapist who controlled and violently assaulted several women has been jailed for 20 years.

Darren Sysum, 30, conducted a six-year "campaign of rape" against several "vulnerable" women whom he played off against each other.

Judge Lawrie QC has also sentenced him to a five-year period on licence following his release.

He said Sysum had a "complete disregard for consent" and showed "no palpable sense of remorse".

Sentencing him at Gloucester Crown Court on Friday and Monday, Judge Lawrie commended the bravery of his victims for helping secure the conviction with his earliest charge dating back to 2015.

'Haunted' by rape

Sysum, formerly of Matson Avenue, Gloucester, caused his victims "psychological and emotional pain" and posed a "significant risk of violent reoffending", the judge ruled.

The court heard he had also threatened the vulnerable women, violently assaulted them and controlled them between January 2018 until he was arrested in 2021.

Sysum would choose what they could wear, how long they could leave home for and repeatedly checked their phones.

Prosecutor David Maunder described an assault where one of the victims was knocked unconscious and an imprint was left on her face from where she had been struck by Sysum.

He also filmed intimate sexual videos with her, and distributed them on social media without her consent.

Sysum has since been diagnosed with dissocial personality disorder - where a person consistently shows no regard for right and wrong and ignores the rights and feelings of others.

Victim impact statements from four of the women were read out in court earlier.

One victim compared their relationship to a "prison sentence".

She added: "I tried numerous times to get away from him.

"He treats women as disposable items after he charms himself into their lives.

"The rape will haunt me for the rest of my life. I often felt he was going to kill me."