'Marauding predator' Jake Killick jailed over Norwich sex attacks

A "marauding predator" who repeatedly raped an 18-year-old woman and carried out sexual assaults in a three-hour crime spree has been jailed for life.

Jake Killick, 23, was sentenced to a minimum term of 12 years for carrying out the string of attacks and robbing three men.

Judge Stephen Holt said Killick inflicted "30 or 40 minutes of hell" on his rape victim.

Killick began his string of attacks in Norwich at 04:35 BST on 30 March.

He raped the 18-year-old woman, who the court heard was a virgin, as she walked through Chapelfield Gardens at about 06:15 BST.

She was then attacked in a side street before being forced to walk to Ten Bell Court nearby, where she was then raped repeatedly.

Judge Holt said Killick, of no fixed address but previously of Thetford, Norfolk, "dragged her down one of the alleyways" and threatened to murder her if she "screamed out or tried to get away".

He said the victim's "30 or 40 minutes of hell" at Ten Bell Court only ended when a neighbour "had the courage to open her door".

Killick then went on to sexually assault another three victims in the city, including a 16-year-old student in St Stephen's Road underpass.

Prosecutor Chris Paxton said it was a "crime spree of a marauding sexual predator".

Over 20 minutes, Killick then robbed a man of a wallet in London Street; took a mobile phone from a man in Theatre Street and robbed another person of their phone at the city's bus station.

He was found guilty in January after a trial at the city's crown court of six counts of rape, three sexual assaults, false imprisonment, intent to commit a sexual offence and three counts of robbery.

He was also found guilty of breaching a restraining order.

Police tracked down Killick and arrested him at Norwich train station at 08:15 BST.

Judge Holt told him that he posed a "high risk of serious harm to the public."

He said the offences were "a campaign of rape and sexual assaults and robberies on the streets of Norwich as residents were going to work early in the morning".

Matthew McNiff, mitigating, said Killick has a "very low IQ" and is a "deeply sad and fairly damaged young man".

Some victims attended the sentencing of Killick, who appeared via video link from Belmarsh Prison and showed no emotion.

Det Insp Chris Burgess, from Norfolk police, said it was a "horrid crime spree" that "significantly impacted on the lives of his victims".