'Dangerous' serial rapist jailed for 24 years

Alex King, who admitted all sexual offences, was also placed on the sex offenders register for life

A sex attacker has been sentenced to 24 years in prison for multiple rapes and an attempted rape on three teenage girls.

Alex King subjected one teenager to a "terrifying" series of rapes and threatened to kill her in September 2023, and attempted to rape another the month before, Derbyshire Police said.

The 27-year-old, of Dudley Drive in Littleover, Derby, was also linked to a serious sexual assault on a third teenager, in Newark, Nottinghamshire, in 2018.

King, who admitted six counts of rape and one attempted rape, was given an extended licence of six years on his release and will be on the sex offenders register for life.

King was sentenced at Derby Crown Court

The force said officers from its specialist rape team found significant similarities between the two 2023 cases in Derby and linked them, leading to King's arrest at his home and subsequent charge.

He was later linked to an ongoing Nottinghamshire Police case in which the victim confirmed King was the man who had attacked her.

On Monday, King was sentenced at Derby Crown Court, where an impact statement was read out from the victim of the September 2023 assault.

She said: "I cry often, and when I cry, it's difficult to stop.

"I have had thoughts that I don't feel I should be here... and now I feel lost. I have a constant dull pain in my stomach, and my heart aches.

'Justice we deserve'

"I returned to my life, but it's not the life I recognise any more.

"I'm still mentally and physically paying the price for what you did to me. The pain doesn't get any easier.

"Despite everything that happened to me that night and how it has hugely impacted my life in every aspect since, I do not believe you won. I am here when I thought that night would be my last.

"I hope that you are given the punishment you deserve and give me and the people before me the justice we deserve."

Det Con Chloe Price added: "Alex King is among the most dangerous offenders I have come across.

"I have no doubt that had he not been arrested, he would have continued offending, and lives would have been at risk had he not been stopped.

"The three survivors of King's offending have shown immense courage, and I can only thank them for their continued support for the investigations, which has resulted in today's significant sentence."