Serial sex offender who attacked eight women in London within four days sentenced to life imprisonment

A man was sentenced to life imprisonment for carrying out “a campaign of rape and attempted rape” after his release from a maximum security hospital.

Louis Collins carried out the attacks – including the rape or attempted rape of three different women between August 18 and 21 last year – after leaving Lambeth Hospital in south London, where he was being held for previous sexual assaults.

On Tuesday, the 29-year-old was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 11 years, five months and 26 days at Kingston Crown Court after he targeted eight women over four days in London last summer.

Among other things, Collins raped a woman at knifepoint while exercising alone in a park, followed a woman home and attempted to rape her in her building, and attempted to rape a woman he followed off a bus.

He committed the offences while on day release from hospital under a hospital order and while his release to the community was being considered.

A judge said Collins was “given 12 ecstasy tablets every two weeks” and smoked cannabis during his stay at Lambeth Hospital, adding he was “not ill” when he committed the offences.

Judge Simon Heptonstall, Kingston Crown Court

At the time of the crimes, Collins, who has no fixed address, was also subject to a sexual abuse protection order prohibiting him from “approaching, intentionally pursuing, speaking to or communicating with a female person unknown to him in public”.

In his verdict, Judge Simon Heptonstall told Collins: “Her conduct was the stuff of nightmares for all women and their families.”

“This was a campaign of rape and attempted rape over a short period of time involving multiple victims, some of which were less serious but far from minor offences.”

The crimes include the rape of a woman who was exercising alone in Marble Hill Park in Twickenham, south-west London, on August 21 last year.

Collins beat the victim and then abducted her, holding a knife to her throat and threatening to stab and kill her if she screamed.

Judge Heptonstall said the victim “no longer felt safe” and was “overly vigilant”.

He added: “She can’t go out on her own, her home feels like a prison. She can’t work the same way anymore. Her attack still haunts her.”

“She is determined to fight to get her life back and refuses to be defined by what you did to her.”

Collins was arrested at Richmond train station at 9:40 a.m. on August 21 after breaking through the cordon. The victim had come home half an hour after returning home and asked for help.

Police officers took Collins back to Lambeth Hospital, where he was arrested at 9pm the same day in connection with the rape.

Other crimes committed by Collins included the sexual assault of a woman on an escalator at Clapham Common tube station on August 18.

On August 20, Collins followed a woman home in the City of London, forcibly entered her building and attempted to rape her.

The next day, he stalked a woman getting off a bus in Willesden Green and attempted to rape her, knocking her down with punches, but the attack was thwarted by someone who came in with a baseball bat in his hand.

Also on August 21, he sexually assaulted another woman he followed off a bus, telling her, “I’m going to cut you up.”

Judge Heptonstall said Collins had identified “a pattern of sexual assault since 2015”, which included the sexual abuse of a 14-year-old in a McDonald’s restaurant in November 2019.

These assaults resulted in Collins being remanded in custody to a psychiatric hospital at Kingston Crown Court on 3 April 2020.

The judge said Collins, who had previously been diagnosed with hebephrenic schizophrenia, had used drugs since he was 12, starting with cannabis and then moving on to ecstasy, ketamine and cocaine in 2019.

Addressing Collins, who gave a thumbs up as he left the dock, he said: “You were taking drugs at the time of these offences. During your hospital stay you were given 12 ecstasy tablets every two weeks. You smoked cannabis.”

“Your vacation had been cut short earlier in the year and that made the voices even worse. They told you to rape a girl and have sex with a girl. You didn’t talk to staff about it.”

Judge Heptonstall said the fact that prison capacity was currently “very limited” played only a “minor” role in sentencing, as Collins was already in prison and “clearly needed to go to prison”.

He added that there was not just a significant, but a very high risk that Collins would commit further sexual offences.

Collins was convicted of rape, attempted rape, sexual assault, sexual battery, kidnapping, committing a crime with the intent to commit a sex offense, and trespassing with the intent to commit a sex offense.

He was also convicted of threatening to kill, insulting public life, assault, strangulation, threatening with a knife and threatening with an offensive weapon.

Detective Inspector Simon Sherlock, of the South West Command Unit, said: “Collins is a dangerous offender and the length of his sentence reflects the level of danger he poses to the public.”

“Our thoughts today are with the women he sexually assaulted and I would like to thank them for their courage and help in our investigations.

“Working with our colleagues at British Transport Police and the City of London Police, we have been able to link Collins to a number of criminal offences and he has now been brought to justice.

“The police are working hard to combat violence against women and girls and are committed to identifying perpetrators and bringing them to justice.

“Although there is currently no evidence to suggest Collins has committed any further offences, I would urge anyone who may have been a victim to please come forward and speak to us. If you do not wish to contact officers, there are a number of charities and organisations who can offer you support.”