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A rapist who boasted of being "a caveman" and used anabolic steroids and cocaine when he forced himself on young women was jailed for 15 years today.

Personal trainer Francis Skachill, 39, raped a woman who had been a client and then attempted to rape a second victim while on bail after he took the drugs to heighten his sexual appetite.

During the rape Skachill threw his victim against a radiator and choked her saying: "You deserve it. I believe violence solves everything."

He added: "I am a caveman - and this is my way of dealing with things. It's us against the world."

Another victim was attacked at her home while her young daughters were in the property.

Skachill, of Higher Broughton, near Salford, Greater Manchester, regularly showed off his muscles in social media images.

He has a string of previous convictions for violence including offences of grabbing a policeman's testicles and cutting off a former girlfriend's hair and biting her on the chest in a cocaine-fuelled rage.

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In 2008 the Thai boxing fanatic was jailed after he left a man with permanent brain damage after he used a karate-style move to "up end" him during a row at a works do, causing the victim to land on his head on the concrete floor with a "sickening crack."

At Minshull Street Crown Court, Manchester Skachill denied rape, attempted rape and assault but was convicted after a trial.

Judge Stuart Driver QC told him: "I do not know how it came to be that a man with a criminal history such as yours would come to work alongside vulnerable individuals with no idea who they are dealing with.

"It is clear you are a man with a propensity for violence and I am satisfied that you present a serious risk of harm to the general public, in particular to women.

"You will not be released from custody until you are considered safe. I am certain that you are not now."

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Earlier the court heard how the rape victim, known as Miss A, had wanted to tone up her body and met Skachill when she decided to get a personal trainer.

Prosecutor Justin Hayhoe said: "From the offset, he was aware of her vulnerability and insecurity. He introduced her to steroids, as he knew this would isolate her from her family.

"He was intimidating, controlling and jealous and he also introduced her to cocaine.

"This is a substance he used frequently, one which increased his desire for sex.

"He would tell the victim that it was them against the world, knowing he had isolated her from her family and that she was very vulnerable."

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"She gained a little weight and he used this to humiliate her," he continued.

"He told her she was a bit fat.

"He wanted to have sex with her and would not take no for an answer. At a house he threw her onto the bed and ripped her knickers off.

"He threw her against a radiator, then used one arm to pin her down by the throat, and used the other to pin down her arm.

"After the rape he told her she deserved it. He told her he believed that violence solved everything. He said he was a caveman, and this was his way of dealing with things."

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Skachill was arrested over the attack but was bailed and met the second victim on Facebook in November 2014 and despite turning up at her home uninvited was allowed to stay.

Mr Hayhoe said: "He ripped off her knickers and began to slap her about her face and body.

"His victim managed to kick him off the bed, using all of her strength, but her children - who were present at the property - heard the sound of both their mother being slapped and the thud as he fell from the bed. One of the children saw him naked at the property."

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In a statement the first victim said: "My life has been split in two. He has scarred me both emotionally and physically and caused me to take a lot of time off work due to my emotions.

"I'm still trying to come to terms with what happened."

The second victim said: "I am tearful and low. My children were shaken by what happened." After his release from jail Skachill will be on licence until 2036 under the terms of an extended sentence.

His lawyer Stuart Neale said in mitigation: "He has shown determination to change. He has shown he has remorse.

"He has shown a level of awareness, and he can and will learn from his ways."