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Serial rapist Joseph McCann has been given 33 life sentences with a minimum term of 30 years over his depraved attacks on women and children.

The evil sex fiend deemed 'one of the most dangerous criminals ever' embarked on a fortnight of terror when he kidnapped, raped and sexually abused multiple victims around the country.

His youngest victim was an 11-year-old boy, while his oldest was a 71-year-old woman.

The law finally caught up with the 34-year-old from Harrow, west London, when police found him hiding in between branches up a tree in Cheshire.

Today, violent thug McCann did not appear in court or by video link for his sentencing because he said he had a "bad back".

Judge Mr Justice Edis described him as "highly dangerous", a “classic psychopath”, a "violent bully" and a "paedophile".

He said: "This was a campaign of rape, violence and abduction of a kind which I have never seen or heard of before."

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He said there should be an independent investigation into how the system "failed to protect" McCann's victims from him.

Mr Justice Edis continued: "Joseph McCann you are very dangerous indeed to people who are weaker then you are.

"Among other things you are a coward and violent bully and a paedophile.

"Your grip on reality is quite tenuous, your instructions to lawyers were utterly ridiculous.

"You are entirely obsessed with yourself. In your world other people exist only for your pleasure and you have no ability to see the world in anybody's eyes other than your own.

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"You are a classic psychopath."

Paying tribute to his victims, the judge said: "Each of these stories is tragic. I hope each will find a way to live through their ordeal and future happiness."

McCann's sentencing comes days after a jury found him guilty of 37 counts, including rape, kidnap and false imprisonment.

In a statement read at the Old Bailey this afternoon, one of his 11 victims described how she has 'gone from a life of thriving to surviving.'

And one detective described McCann "one of the most dangerous individuals that we've ever seen."

The convicted burglar had been freed after a probation error before he went on a cocaine and vodka-fuelled rampage, in Watford, London and the North West.

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McCann claimed to have had consensual sex with some of his victims and denied all the charges.

During his sex attack spree, he changed his appearance and moved across five police force areas as he evaded officers for 15 days despite telling his first victim his surname.

On his arrest, he told police: "If you had caught me for the first two, the rest of this wouldn't have happened."

The court heard how two months after his release, in the early hours of April 21, McCann snatched a young woman from the street in Watford and raped her in her bed.

The woman reported the attack to police, McCann's details were put on the Police National Computer and a prison recall was issued.

But McCann remained at large and on April 25 he abducted a 25-year-woman as she walked home from work in Walthamstow, east London, just after midnight and subjected her to a 14-hour rape ordeal.

McCann made her call him "daddy" and say that she was a child.

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Hours later, he was caught on CCTV bundling another young woman into his car in north London, as her sister ran off screaming.

The two captives escaped outside the Phoenix Lodge in Watford, after the 25-year-old woman hit McCann over the head with a vodka bottle.

She told jurors she was determined to survive and used her "logic" to seize her chance to incapacitate him.

The Metropolitan Police circulated a CCTV image of McCann at the Phoenix Hotel and received a tip-off with his name following a public appeal.

On May 5, McCann tricked his way into the home of a woman he met in a bar in Greater Manchester, tied her up and molested her children, aged 17 and 11.

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The teenage girl, who described McCann as "evil", jumped out of a first floor window to alert police.

As McCann ran out after her, the 11-year-old boy cut his mother free, saying: "Mum, mum, we are safe. (My sister) saved us."

Later that day, McCann pounced on a 71-year-old woman loading shopping in her car outside a Morrisons supermarket.

He raped her before he abducted and assaulted a 13-year-old girl in her car before they got away.

As police closed in, McCann forced two 14-year-old girls into the car by threatening to "chop them up" with a machete.

He was captured on CCTV buying condoms at a service station before he was spotted by a patrol car, which gave chase.

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Jurors were shown dramatic dashcam footage of police chasing the rapist as he reached speeds of up to 60mph and veered into the wrong lane of traffic to overtake a car in Congleton, Cheshire, on May 5.

The Fiat drove the wrong way through a roundabout, crashed into a Mercedes and sped into a neighbourhood.

McCann eventually abandoned the car, leaving the two "terrified" girls behind, and dashed through a garden before taking a bicycle.

Later, he was caught in a taxi at a police road block, but he ran off into a field, having changed into a wet T-shirt snatched from a clothes line.

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A police helicopter finally located him up a tree, he was coaxed down and arrested early on May 6.

McCann refused to attend his trial, but appeared by video link from prison.

Detective Chief Inspector Katherine Goodwin, who led the investigation, said after the verdict: "From the moment of his first offence, McCann did everything he could not to be caught and had changed his appearance, given false names and used different cars in order to evade the law.

"Added to that, he had been assisted by a number of people who knew where he was - and that police were looking for him - who decided to help him remain at large and free to attack again.

"Despite these extensive efforts, the work of our dedicated officers and their unwavering commitment to getting justice for each and every victim in this case means he will never again be able to inflict this kind of pain and distress."

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CPS lawyer Tetteh Turkson added this afternoon: "The court heard today the impact McCann's brutal campaign of rape has had, and will continue to have, on his victims.

"He is a dangerous man who has shown no remorse for his cruel and sickening actions.

"He has now been given a life sentence and will serve 30 years before being considered for release.

"Our hope is that the victims in this case, all of whom have shown immense bravery, are now able to move on with their lives following these truly horrendous crimes."

Following the verdicts, the Probation Service issued an "unreserved" apology for a blunder which led to McCann's release in February, halfway through a three-year sentence for burglary.

A probation officer was demoted after a Ministry of Justice review found McCann should have been immediately recalled to jail for an earlier offence.

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Four men and two women have been arrested on suspicion of assisting McCann, and released under investigation.

The court heard he had a string of convictions in the North West and South East of England, having received his first term behind bars at the age of 15.

While he had no convictions for sexual offences he did have a "history of violence and threats towards partners of his", prosecutor John Price QC said.

Crimes included escaping custody by grabbing and threatening a female Group 4 security guard with a plastic knife, possessing a blade, robbery and two burglaries.

Since his release in February, McCann was seen by probation officers 10 times.

The last occasion was on April 19, three days before McCann committed his first rape.

A probation officer said McCann had attended the Watford probation office where he was served with a warning for failing to disclose a new relationship, under the terms of his licence because of his history of domestic violence.

McCann was "not happy" about it and when his new fiancee's parents found out about the condition they broke off the relationship because they thought he was a sex offender.

McCann was convicted of the following crimes:

10 counts of false imprisonment

7 counts of rape

1 count of rape of a child

2 counts of causing or inciting a person to engage in sexual activity without consent

7 counts of kidnap

1 count of attempted kidnap

3 counts of causing or inciting a child under 13 to engage in sexual activity

3 counts of assault by penetration

1 count of sexual assault

2 counts of committing a sexual offence with intent