Bogus SAS member jailed for rape

The couple denied a long list of charges

A builder who raped two women after convincing them he was a member of the SAS has been jailed for 20 years.

Nigel Da Costa, 33, of Dovercourt, Essex, was found guilty of three counts of rape, at Chelmsford Crown Court in February.

Da Costa's wife Helen, 29, was convicted of 12 charges of false imprisonment and one of perverting the course of justice.

Helen Da Costa, a former primary school teacher, was jailed for five years.

Jurors heard Da Costa had terrorised his victims for more than a year.

'Security risk'

Prosecutors said Da Costa, who has no links with the military, claimed he was in the SAS and told three women that they were a threat to national security.

Jurors were told that he was so convincing his victims complied with his demands.

He raped two women after "arresting" them for being a "security risk".

On another occasion he put the barrel of a gun into the mouth of a victim and indecently assaulted her.

Scientists found her DNA in saliva on the gun barrel.

Da Costa also threatened to have the women and their relatives killed.

Jurors were told that Helen Da Costa had either helped her husband or had done nothing to stop him.

Denied charges

Both Da Costa and his wife denied a long list of charges claiming that they had never occurred.

But Da Costa was found guilty of three counts of rape.

He was also convicted of possessing a firearm with intent to commit rape, two charges of possessing a firearm with intent to cause fear of violence, six indecent assaults and 19 charges of false imprisonment.

He was cleared of one rape charge and one false imprisonment charge.

Helen Da Costa was cleared of one charge of false imprisonment.