Lamin Touray, 36, has been jailed for 16 years for attempting to rape one woman and sexually assaulting another in Leeds, West Yorkshire and sexually assaulting a student in Newport, Wales

An illegal immigrant who should have been kicked out of the country has been jailed for 16 years for three sex attacks on lone women.

Lamin Touray, 36, forced one of his victims to the ground and attempted to rape her in a car park after following her home from a Christmas party in Leeds, West Yorkshire.

He also sexually assaulted another woman in the entrance to her flat after following her home in the Leeds area and carried out a smiliar sex assault on a student in Newport, south Wales in 2009.

The Gambian national, who gave a false name and date of birth after he was arrested over the latest attack in December 2013, has now been handed a 12-year prison sentence with an extended licence of four years.

The judge at Leeds Crown Court imposed the extended licence because Touray 'posed a serious risk of committing offences against women in the future.' It means he will spend a total of 16 years behind bars.

It came after he admitted attempted rape, two offences of sexual assault and attempting to pervert the course of justice at yesterday's hearing.

Touray had originally been granted temporary permission to enter the UK to attend a relative's wedding but failed to return to Africa and was living in the country illegally.

He was detained after following a young student home following a Christmas night out in the early hours of December 2013 and attempting to rape her.

The court heard how a CCTV operator was so concerned after spotting Touray following the woman that he abandoned his post and ran to the scene in a bid to help her.

The attack came just two days after he sexually assaulted a woman outside her flat in the same area of Leeds, and four years after he targeted a young woman in south Wales.

Sentencing Touray, Judge Neil Clark told him: 'You present a significant risk because you are a man who will randomly attack females who are strangers to you.'

The judge said he had no powers to order Touray's deportation upon completion of the sentence but requested that his sentencing remarks be passed to the parole board and the Home Office.

He added: 'You are entirely detrimental to the public good in this country.'

Judge Clark also praised the 'remarkable bravery' of all three of Touray's victims in their efforts to fight him off.

In one attack, the Gambian national forced his female victim to the ground after following her home from a Christmas night out in the Call Lane area of Leeds (pictured) and attempted to rape her in a nearby car park

Each one was also prepared to attend the court to give evidence, which resulted in Touray entering the guilty pleas.

The judge said: 'It is quite refreshing to see that there are young women in this country as brave and resilient as that.'

After the case, detective superintendent Jon Morgan, from West Yorkshire Police, said: 'Touray is a predatory sex offender who targeted women walking alone in Leeds city centre and put them through frightening ordeals. He is clearly someone who presents a very real danger to women.

'He was brought to justice through a combination of excellent detective work, forensic science and information from the public generated by appeals in the media.