A Royal Marine raped a child, held her over a balcony and threatened to kill her if she said anything

A Royal Marine who raped a child in London and then threatened to kill her if she told him, raped another teenager in Kent 40 years later, a court heard. Andrew Mills, who was once vetted by MI6, was sentenced to 14 years in prison on Friday July 19 after a jury found him guilty of rape and four counts of sexual assault in the borough of Westminster between 1976 and 1980 at a trial at Southwark Crown Court in April this year.

The 62-year-old sex offender, who “showed not the slightest hint of remorse or admission”, was previously convicted of five sex offences at Woolwich Crown Court in 2021 for an attack on a 19-year-old woman in Kent in 2019.

Mills had picked up the drunken victim on the street in Gravesend town centre at night and then raped her in his van.

Mills, of Granville Road in Gravesend, was described by a Kent Police detective at the time as an “opportunistic sex offender who poses an extreme danger to women” and sentenced to eight years in prison. Now that Mills has been exposed as a dangerous sex offender, another victim has bravely spoken out about her past sexual abuse at his hands, telling police in London how he had sexually abused her from an early age and raped her when she was a child.

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She told jurors of at least six sexual assaults that occurred in the 1970s and began when she was eight years old. They included Mills, then a teenager himself, touching and penetrating her vagina with his fingers.

Jurors also heard that he made anonymous phone calls to ensure he continued to be in contact with her. After a break from the offending, when Mills was 18, he raped the victim at a party and threatened to kill her and her family if she spoke about it.

The trial heard that she felt as if something had been put in her drink when Mills took her to the roof of a London tower block “to get some air”. She remembered being in the lift but said she “must have passed out” because she woke up lying on the stairs with Mills on top of her. At some point during the rape, she said, someone came out to ask her to be quiet, but they did not intervene.

She then described how Mills put his hand over her mouth and threatened to kill her and her parents if she said anything. Mills had just started a six-year career in the Royal Marines, during which he would serve in Northern Ireland and the Falkland Islands, so the victim believed he was capable of making these horrific threats.

The court heard he then held her over a balcony and threatened to throw her off, after which she promised to keep quiet. After that, she told jurors, he began hitting her and pushed her down a flight of stairs. It was only when details of Mills’ sickening rape by strangers emerged in 2021 that the victim felt able to speak out about the horrific incident and the abuse that preceded it.

“I was completely devastated”

In an impact statement, the victim, who suffers from anxiety, flashbacks and depression, described her “extreme” fear and her “constant vigilance”. Prosecutor Dominic Connolly also outlined the damaging impact on her friendships and romantic relationships, saying it had left her an “anxious and overprotective” mother.

She also said she reported the abuse because she felt “guilt” for not reporting Mills sooner after his attack on a stranger came to light.

Describing the impact of the last attack, she said: “When Andrew raped me, I was completely devastated. I felt like my life was over and I have no idea how I came back from it,” adding: “I don’t say this lightly, but Andrew ruined my life. It’s been 44 years since he raped me, but now I’m trying to get my life back on track. Not a day goes by that I don’t think about it.”

In the 1970s, the maximum sentence for sexual assault was five years, while rape could mean life. Sentencing was complicated by the fact that Mills’ previous convictions – for two counts of rape, two counts of attempted rape and one count of assault by digital penetration – followed on from his previous crimes, which were not yet known at the time.

Had the judge known of his previous character, he would have increased the sentence. In handing down the sentence on Friday, Judge Nicholas Cole could not consider his first conviction an aggravating circumstance for the previous offenses, but he did consider it evidence that Mills posed an ongoing danger to the public. He also concluded that the most recent sentence should run concurrently with the 2021 sentence due to the timeline of Mills’ offenses.

“Unable to exercise control”

Mills’ family laughed from the gallery as defence lawyer Mark Kimsey said his client had been a law-abiding citizen for 40 years between the first and second rapes. The lawyer then outlined Mills’ military service, followed by his work as a carpenter, work in the Ministry of Defence’s weapons depots, the MI6 check and his time in the Honourable Artillery Company of London.

Mr Kimsey said Mills suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder during his service, which required him to take “a lot of medication”, and suffered a heart attack when he was arrested in 2019. Some family members described him as a “loving father” and “supportive father-in-law”, but those in attendance MyLondon spoke to after the hearing had a completely different opinion.

Mills also claimed he was barred from giving evidence, but this was firmly rejected by the judge at Friday’s hearing. Prosecutors were denied a request to inform the jury of Mills’ previous conviction, but this also prevented him from speaking positively about his own character.

Judge Cole was scathing of Mills’ handwritten letter and a pre-sentence report, saying they were “full of pity and blame towards others”. The judge also noted a probation officer’s conclusion that Mills had shown “no positive change” and that he was “unable to exercise control or make decisions”.

“As someone who committed rape at 18 and then at 57, in my judgment you remain a danger for the foreseeable future,” Judge Cole said, concluding that an additional five years’ probation as part of an extended sentence was necessary to protect the public.

Mills was sentenced to 14 years in prison for rape, four years each for two counts of sexual assault, and two years each for two other counts of sexual assault. These sentences must be served concurrently with his previous eight-year sentence from 2021. He must serve two-thirds of that sentence before he is eligible for parole, which will be around 2030.

Judge Cole thanked the victim for her “strength,” “composure” and “consistently calm, convincing testimony.”

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