By Lucy Caulkett-
A serial and “Classic psychopath” Joseph McCann, has been handed 33 life sentences and a minimum term of 30 years for a string of horrific sex attacks on 11 women and children.
Serial rapist, McCann, 34, refused to attend the hearing for his case, claiming to have a bad back. The brute paedophile was freed after a probation service error. Two months later, and under the influence of cocaine and vodka, he abducted, raped and assaulted victims aged between 11 and 71 in Watford, London and the North West for 15 days consecutively.
Jurors heard how McCann snatched his first victim from the street in Watford and raped her in her own bed in the early hours of April 21.The woman described her assailant leading to McCann’s details were put on the Police National Computer and a prison recall was issued.
Still on the run, four days later he abducted a 25-year-woman in Walthamstow, and subjected her to a 14-hour rape ordeal. Hours later, he was caught on CCTV bundling another young woman into his car in north London, as her sister ran off screaming.
SUPPORT NETWORK
He is said to have used a “support network” across the country to evade police, despite being identified as a suspect on the day of his first attack. After five hours of deliberation by the jury, he was found guilty of 37 charges relating to 11 victims, including eight rapes, false imprisonment and kidnap.
He said: “This was a campaign of rape, violence and abduction of a kind which I have never seen or heard of before.”
He said there should be an independent investigation into how the system “failed to protect” McCann’s victims from him.
Mr Justice Edis said: “Joseph McCann you are very dangerous indeed to people who are weaker then you are.
“Among other things you are a coward and violent bully and a paedophile.
“Your grip on reality is quite tenuous, your instructions to lawyers were utterly ridiculous.
“You are entirely obsessed with yourself. In your world other people exist only for your pleasure and you have no ability to see the world in anybody’s eyes other than your own. “You are a classic psychopath.”
TRAGIC
Paying tribute to his victims, the judge said: “Each of these stories is tragic. I hope each will find a way to live through their ordeal and future happiness.”
The court heard he had a string of convictions in the north west and south east of England, having received his first term behind bars at the age of 15. A spokesperson from childrens’ charity NSPCC said: “McCann’s horrific attacks on women and children have left a trail of suffering that could take years to even begin to recover from.
“While nothing can erase the experiences that McCann made his victims endure, we hope they are now receiving the help they need to move on with their lives.”
SURVIVING
In a victim impact statement, one of McCann’s victims told how her life had changed from being “thriving” to “surviving”.
Image: MET POLICE