Joseph McCann: Serial rapist found guilty of attacks on women and children in ‘depraved’ kidnapping spree

McCann had been freed from prison by mistake in February after being jailed for burglary

Joseph McCann has been found guilty of carrying out a “shocking and depraved” campaign of kidnap and rape.

He targeted 11 women and children in a rampage across London, Hertfordshire and northwest England earlier this year.

McCann, who was tracked down by police after attempting to evade capture by climbing up a tree, had denied all 37 charges against him.

But a jury found him guilty of all offences on Friday following a trial at the Old Bailey.

Four men and two women have been arrested on suspicion of assisting McCann while he was on the run from police.

The 34-year-old, from Harrow, northwest London, refused to attend court and did not give evidence in his own defence.

He attacked victims aged between 11 and 71 in what police described as an “unprecedented” campaign of rape, kidnap and false imprisonment.

In some cases, McCann snatched women off the street and threatened them with a knife, while in others he used false pretences to lure victims into his car.

The rapist had been freed from prison by mistake in February, when was automatically released after serving half of a burglary sentence.

But he committed the crime while on licence over a previous aggravated burglary that he was jailed for in 2008.

The Ministry of Justice has launched an inquiry into why he was not recalled to prison after committing the offence, following his release in 2017, while he was supposed to be monitored by probation services.

That would have meant McCann would have been reviewed by the Parole Board, rather than being freed automatically.

McCann’s first victim was a 21-year-old woman kidnapped as she walked home from a Watford nightclub on 21 April.

In a videoed interview played in court, the woman said she was using her phone when she was grabbed by a man who put a knife to her neck.

“He kept saying I’m a ‘stupid girl’,” she added. “I think he slapped me in the face because I was crying.”

The woman said he drove around and told her she had to “join the firm”, before taking her back to her flat, where he allegedly raped her in bed.

Afterwards, the woman said she “just acted like it was OK”. She said: “He kept saying I was one of his 15 girlfriends and I would get on with his wife and kids. He was kind of scaring me saying he just got out of prison after doing 18 years.”

Hertfordshire Police started an investigation, but four days later McCann struck again in north London, where he kidnapped two women 12 hours apart.

The victims, aged 21 and 25, were raped and forced to engage in sex acts with each other before they managed to escape in Watford.

But McCann resumed his spree in northwest England 10 days later.

In a 21-hour period on 5 May, he is accused of attacking a family, a pensioner and two teenage girls.

Prosecutors said he conned his way into a mother’s home in Lancashire, tied her to a bed and raped her 17-year-old daughter and 11-year-old son.

Afterwards, he allegedly attacked a 71-year-old woman at a Morrison’s car park in Bury and raped her as part of the “shocking and depraved” rampage.

McCann made off in the pensioner’s Fiat, which he used to snatch two 14-year-old girls.

He was eventually tracked down in Congleton, Cheshire, after trying to flee from police in a car and by a stolen bicycle.

After being stopped in a taxi at a roadblock, he ran into fields and climbed a tree, where he was brought down and arrested after several hours.

McCann initially claimed the two girls in the car he had been driving had “wanted a lift”, but later told a police officer: “If you had caught me for the first two, the rest of this wouldn’t have happened.”

Police described McCann as ‘a horrendously dangerous individual’ (PA)

Detective Chief Inspector Katherine Goodwin, who led the investigation, said McCann’s refusal to speak to police meant his motivations were unknown.

“We’ve never been able to get a true understanding of what his motivation was, what kind of man he is and to understand what drove him to commit these horrific crimes,” she added.

“To plead not guilty against the weight of such evidence, draw out the process in court as much as possible and forcing his brave victims to give evidence, shows his contempt for them.

“He clearly is a horrendously dangerous individual.”

Senior crown prosecutor Tetteh Turkson said McCann “behaved with shocking depravity”.

“It was through persistence and bravery that some of his victims managed to escape,” he added. “They showed great strength of character in recounting their stories to police and giving evidence to the court; reliving some of what must have been the darkest moments of their lives.”

McCann was convicted of 10 counts of false imprisonment, seven counts of rape, one count of rape of a child and two counts of causing or inciting a person to engage in sexual activity without consent.

He was also found guilty of seven counts of kidnap, one count of attempted kidnap, three counts of causing or inciting a child under 13 to engage in sexual activity, three counts of assault by penetration, one count of sexual assault and two counts of committing a sexual offence with intent.

The jury, which deliberated for five hours, paid tribute to the “bravery” of the victims in a note to the judge.

Mr Justice Edis adjourned sentencing until Monday, when he will consider a life sentence.