October 2014

Washington ‘smirking rapist’ has been handed his SIXTH life sentence for brutal sex attack on 15-year-old girl

Dangerous serial sex beast Stephen Crawford gave a trademark smirk as he was given SIXTH life sentence for raping a girl

Smirking rapist Stephen Crawford was branded a “highly dangerous individual” as he was given a second life sentence for yet another brutal sex attack.

The former mobile disc jockey gave a trademark smirk as he was sentenced to life behind bars for raping a 15-year-old girl.

Crawford was dubbed the smirking rapist because of the sneering smile with which he reacted to being cleared of raping five women in the 1990s.

The smug look was wiped off his face in 2007 and 2012 after he was given a life sentence and four indefinite sentences for a host of sex offences including rape, indecent assaults and having sex with under-age girls.

(Indeterminate imprisonment is the imposition of a sentence by imprisonment with no definite period of time set during sentencing. Its length, rather, is determined during imprisonment based on the inmate’s conduct. The inmate could be returned to society or to kept behind bars for the remainder of his/her natural life)

Now a judge said the Parole Board must “think long and hard” before ever releasing the 52-year-old pervert, who poses a high risk to women.

The sick attacker, who a judge once said “enjoyed he act of rape” was yesterday found guilty of raping a teenager at an industrial estate in Washington in the 1980s after she told him she did not want to spend time with him.

Imposing a life sentence at Newcastle Crown Court, Judge Sean Morris told him: “When she tried to stop you or say she didn’t want to see you, as you did on other occasions, you lost it.

“There is something wrong with you when you are rejected by women.

“You are a highly dangerous individual in my view.

“There is a substantial risk you will commit similar offences against women in future.

“You are still middle-aged and will be a danger to women for a long, long time.”

The judge said Crawford must serve six years behind bars before he can apply for parole.

But he added: “It is my sincere wish that they think long and hard before they ever release you, if at all.”

The court heard Crawford had driven the victim to a secluded location on the industrial estate and called her names before threatening to “punch her face in”.

She was then subjected to a sickening rape ordeal that left her “utterly terrified” before being warned she would be killed if she told anyone.

Crawford denied rape in relation to the attack and was advised by the trial judge before the case started that a guilty plea would be looked upon more favourably by the Parole Board, who may one day consider if he is safe to be back on the streets.

But the serial offender responded from the dock: “I will never get out anyway, sir.”

His denial meant his victim had to re-live her ordeal by giving evidence against him.

The court heard Crawford was in his 20s when he attacked the teen, who said she did not want to spend time with him.

As the second life sentence was discussed by the judge and barristers in the case, Crawford smirked in the dock.

He had also served sentences for sex offences against women and children in the 1990s and was given a five year jail term earlier this year for trying to rape a woman he had offered a lift home from the pub in the 1980s.

Julie Clemitson, defending, said: “There is no prospect of him being released until the Parole Board determine he is no longer a danger.”

May 2012

Does life ever mean life? Predatory sex attacker handed his FIFTH life sentence for a string of horrific rapes could be freed in just over FOUR years

A sneering sex attacker found guilty of a string of brutal rapes has been handed his fifth life sentence – but told he could be back on the streets in little more than four years.

Stephen Crawford – branded a ‘dangerous’ predator ‘who enjoys the act of rape’ – was today given a life sentence for raping a 13-year-old schoolgirl thirty years ago.

He had already been serving four life terms following his conviction in 2007 for a series of sex attacks including raping three women between 2005 and 2006.

And it emerged after the latest trail at Newcastle Crown Court, that Crawford had previously been cleared on five separate occasions of raping women over two decades.

He was found not guilty of rape during the 1980s and 90s – managing to convince the jury in each trial the alleged victim had consented to sex – but picked up a string of convictions for unlawful sex with teenage victims and sexual assault.

But despite his horrific past, Judge John Milford imposed a life sentence which has a four-and-a-half year minimum tariff, meaning he will be eligible for release as early as 2016.

Judge Milford told him: ‘I am satisfied you are dangerous, you are a man who enjoys the act of rape.

‘Nobody knows when you will cease to be a danger to woman so the only sentence I can pass upon you is life. You will only be released when the parole board is satisfied you are safe to release.’

Crawford was working as a mobile disc jockey when he targeted the young girl as she walked home alone in the early 1980s.

The now 49-year-old, from Washington, Tyne and Wear, had once again denied his guilt but jurors convicted him of rape after just 90 minutes deliberation.

The victim had told the court of the look of ‘sheer power’ on Crawford’s face when he attacked her all those years ago.

It was only when the woman could not cope with keeping her ordeal secret, after three painful decades, she reported what had happened to her.

Judge Milford added: ‘She was so frightened by the experience she did not think anyone would believe her over your inevitable denials and she kept the matter to herself for all those years.

‘It is clear to me that this offence has had an immense impact upon her, that it has lived with her throughout her adult years.

‘One only had to see her demeanour in the witness box to appreciate that.’

Five separate women in the 1980s and 1990s found the rape accusations they made against Crawford come to nothing.

In 1985, Crawford was accused of raping a 15-year-old girl in Washington. He admitted unlawful sex and the rape charge was dropped.

In June 1992 he was found not guilty by a jury of raping an 18-year-old girl he had offered a lift in his caravette after insisting she consented.

At the same time another charge of rape against a different woman was dropped after prosecutors offered no evidence.

In September 1992 he was cleared by a jury of raping a woman in his car after offering her a lift home.

Again, he claimed the 18-year-old consented. And in March 1993 a rape charge made by an off-duty special constable was dropped when she backed out of giving evidence against him.

The jury in the 2007 case were never told of Crawford’s chilling background which included; a conviction for sex with a girl under 16, 21 months in jail for unlawful sex with a 13-year-old.

Or that in April 1999 he got a suspended sentence after he attacked a 15-year-old girl in the cab of his car transporter after driving her to a secluded lane in Gateshead.

Or that he has been convicted of failing to comply with the requirements of the sex offenders register twice.

During the 2007 trial three victims – none of whom knew each other – gave evidence one after another before the same jury.

The court heard how Crawford stalked the streets posing at a taxi driver looking for lone females to pick up and attack in Durham and Sunderland.

He offered lifts to the three women who had become separated from friends during nights out. One of his victims was subjected to a five hour ordeal.

Another victim, a 17-year-old, told jurors she had resorted to showing Crawford pictures of her family on her mobile phone and begging him to look at their faces to imagine how they would suffer if he killed her.

One of the victims, who faced Crawford while giving evidence from the witness box, told jurors: ‘I’ve never, ever in my life hated anyone as much as I hate that bloke.

‘It has got to the stage where I’ve had nightmares about it, I can’t stop thinking about it.

‘For someone to have such an impact on somebody else’s life like this, even after this many years, its just wrong.’

Crawford admitted he offered lifts to the women but said they consented to any sexual activity which took place.

He claimed to the jurors that the women seemed to ‘enjoy’ what happened and insisted they consented to sex.

But after hearing evidence from his sobbing victims, jurors found him guilty.

During his defence, Crawford claimed the victim was a ‘total stranger’ to him and denied having any sexual contact with her.

Crawford told jurors: ‘They were total strangers to me yesterday, both people who stood in this dock, I have never seen them before in my life.’

When asked if the victim’s name meant anything to him, Crawford replied: ‘It didn’t then, it doesn’t now, it means nothing, no idea.’

Andrew Walker, defending, said Crawford has now admitted the past offending he was convicted of, despite his denials at the time.

He maintains his denials in relation to his conviction this week. Mr Walker said Crawford is co-operating with officials and undergoing programmes in jail.

Mr Walker added; ‘He is in extremely poor health, he informs me he has had 16 heart attacks since his remand in custody in 2007.

‘His cardiologist is extremely pessimistic about his life expectancy.’