Banker jailed for life over rapes

A SERIAL rapist has been jailed for life.

City banker Brian Witty was jailed for a minimum of eight years last year for three rapes and one sexual assault on a total of four women between 1995 and 2011.

Witty, 42, formerly of Greatfield in Hull, targeted the women on dates in London.

Following publicity of the trial in the Mail, three more women – two from Hull – came forward to say he had attacked them as well.

Now, Witty has been jailed for life after a jury in London convicted him of three counts of rape.

Detective Constable Peter Sullivan, the investigating officer from the Metropolitan Police's Sexual Offences, Exploitation and Child Abuse Command, said: "Witty is a serial rapist who is arrogant in the extreme and has shown absolutely no contrition for his crimes.

"Despite the overwhelming evidence against him, he made these women – and, in some cases, their families – give lengthy evidence, further compounding the distress and trauma he had already caused.

"He has left a legacy of pain and suffering that will live with many of them for the rest of their lives.

"The consistency of his offending over several decades shows that he will always be threat to women and, therefore, I applaud the life sentence that was passed."

The first of the latest offences of which Witty has been convicted happened in 1989, when he was 19.

He met his victim, also 19, while they were both A-level students at the same college in Hull.

They both later began studies at different universities in Liverpool.

In October that year, Witty traced the victim to her halls of residence, came to her room unexpectedly and raped her.

During the attack, he punched her repeatedly.

Witty struck again twice in 1997, when he was 27.

In December that year, the 19-year-old victim had stayed with Witty's sister at her home in Hull after they had gone out for an evening together.

The victim was sleeping on a sofa downstairs while Witty was staying in an upstairs spare bedroom.

Witty came downstairs in the night and pulled the sleeping victim from the sofa on to the floor, where he raped her.

He carried out another attack on a 19-year-old woman who had been celebrating New Year's Eve with friends in London.

The victim's friend introduced her to Witty at the end of the celebrations.

The victim made it clear she was not interested in sex and, when Witty offered her accommodation for the night at his flat in Kensington, she accepted, believing she was safe.

After they arrived at his flat, Witty raped her.

He has now been sentenced to life and ordered to serve a minimum term of 12 years before he will be eligible for parole.

DC Sullivan said: "The women in this and Witty's previous trial have been incredibly courageous.

"By revisiting these traumatic experiences and providing evidence against Witty, they have ensured that justice can been served and he has been held to account for many years of offending."