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Police have released CCTV of the moment a night-stalker rapist drove his victim into a car park where he committed a terrifying 20-minute attack.

Mechanic Clive Howard - whose crimes spanned 28 years - was only caught because the woman took a photo of his Volvo on her mobile phone after the assault.

Today the rapist described as "every woman's worst nightmare" was jailed for 10 years and three months, after he attacked at least six women walking home alone at night.

The 57-year-old of Stowmarket, Suffolk, was described as a "dangerous predator" by Norfolk Police after he admitted seven counts of rape, three of kidnap and one of attempted rape.

There could be more victims. Detectives say in the past month 15 women who fear they might have been attacked by Howard have come forward.

The CCTV images were taken from the St Helens Wharf car park in Norwich on May 30 last year.

(Image: PA)

They show Howard's Volvo pulling into the car park before switching off the headlights at exactly midnight.

More than 20 minutes later the car's lights are switched on again and the car pulls away following the attack on Howard's victim, who was in her 20s.

Today Judge Stephen Holt sentenced Howard to 10 years and three months at Norwich Crown Court, which heard the offences happened in Norfolk and Cambridge between 1986 and 2014.

Detective Sergeant Chris Burgess, who led the investigation, said: "I believe women are safer with this dangerous man off the streets.

"A striking similarity between the cases is that Howard would prey on women walking alone at night.

(Image: Norfolk Police)

"I hope his guilty plea goes some way to helping his victims move forward from this terrible experience.

"I'm concerned there are other victims out there, either in Norfolk, Suffolk or Cambridgeshire, and would urge other women to come forward."

The force revealed that Howard 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.

(Image: Archant)

As he escaped, she tried to take a picture of his car on her mobile phone. Although Howard grabbed the phone before she could take the photograph, she recovered it from a bush and contacted police.

Officers got a partial image of the number plate of his Volvo from CCTV and then 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.

(Image: Norfolk Police/PA Wire)

Officers found "striking similarities" to the Norwich case and finally linked Howard to three other kidnappings in Cambridgeshire.

Mr Burgess said: "Reliving an experience such as this is never easy for a victim of sexual assault and I recognise the bravery shown by all victims in this case who would have been prepared to give evidence, had the case gone to trial."

Victims of sexual abuse should contact Norfolk's Sexual Assault Referral Centre on 0845 456 4810 or call police on 101.