Night stalker rapist to be sentenced after 30 years of attacks
More than a dozen women have contacted police in England fearing they were targeted by a night stalker rapist who is due to be sentenced for attacks spanning nearly 30 years.
Detective Sergeant Chris Burgess, from Norfolk Police, said since 56-year-old Clive Howard admitted seven counts of rape, three of kidnap and one of attempted rape last month, 15 women had contacted the force.
Officers have confirmed at least one of these was attacked by Howard, who will be sentenced at Norwich Crown Court this morning.
Det Sgt Burgess said: “He is a very dangerous man – he was a sexual predator and people will be safer with him behind bars.
“He targeted women walking alone in the street at night and they were very vulnerable.
“His crimes were horrific and it is difficult to appreciate the devastating impact it has had on his victims.
“There is concern that there are further victims out there and we would encourage anybody who believes they were attacked by him to come forward.”
Howard, of Bury Street, Stowmarket, Suffolk, was caught after attacking a woman in her 20s in the St Helens Wharf car park in Norwich on May 30 last year.
He had offered her a lift as she walked home from a night out but instead took her to the car park and raped her.
Officers got a partial image of the number plate of his Volvo from CCTV and tracked him down.
When they compared his DNA with the national database, he was linked to an unsolved case in which a woman was kidnapped in Cambridgeshire in 2013, the force said.
In that case a woman in her 20s managed to fight him off and, as she scratched him, his DNA was trapped under her fingernail.
Officers found “striking similarities” to the Norwich case and finally linked Howard to three other kidnappings in Cambridgeshire.
Det Sgt Burgess described father-of-six Howard as a “loner” who had lived with his parents since his marriage broke down 15 years ago. At the time of his arrest, he had an 82-year-old girlfriend.
“He was a quiet man who lived with his parents, frequented dating sites and searched the streets for street workers,” Det Sgt Burgess said.
“His crimes were very, very rare and he was certainly an unusual character.”
Victims of sexual abuse should contact Norfolk’s Sexual Assault Referral Centre on 0845 456 4810 or call police on 101.
