A man who remained at large for four years after a police DNA blunder has been jailed for life for a series of sex attacks on girls and young women.
Welder Mark Campbell, 38, of Grenville Gardens, Donnington, Chichester, was convicted at Chichester Crown Court.
He carried out the offences, including rape and indecent assault, in the Bognor Regis and Chichester areas of West Sussex between 1998 and 2004.
Campbell, who denied all charges, was told he would serve at least 12 years.
He was convicted of four counts of indecent assault, three counts of rape, two counts of false imprisonment and one count of attempted indecent assault on Monday.
Campbell was also found guilty of one count of sexual assault and two counts of burglary.
DNA 'oversight'
He was cleared of one count of indecent assault and one count of sexual assault.
Campbell was sentenced to life imprisonment, and told he would serve a minimum of 12 years, minus the time he has already spent in custody.
"Having taken this particular sample, we didn't send it off for processing. That had consequences in that Campbell was at large for four years"
The court heard that Campbell preyed on vulnerable girls and young women in their homes or isolated areas of Bognor Regis and Chichester over a six-year period.
He first struck in 1998 when he indecently assaulted a 27-year-old woman in her house.
Jurors were told that a serious error by police investigating the attacks allowed him to remain at large.
Prosecutor Christine Laing said he was arrested over a suspected "peeping Tom" offence in 2002 but an "oversight" meant his DNA swab was not sent off for analysis until a case review four years later.
She said the delay did not impact on the evidential effect of the DNA match.
Ms Laing added: "Where it does impact however, is in the delay in bringing this matter to trial and the effect that has on the recollection of everyone involved."
'No excuses'
Following the trial Assistant Chief Constable Jeremy Paine, of Sussex Police, said: "There are no excuses. Having taken this particular sample, we didn't send it off for processing.
"That had consequences in that Campbell was at large for four years longer than he should have been.
"It should not have happened and we are very sorry that it did.
"You must have known what it meant to these women"
"We have done everything we can to learn the lessons so that nothing like it can happen again."
One of his victims, now aged 19, who was falsely imprisoned as she walked home from school, told the court that she remained deeply traumatised.
She said: "If I have a good time, I totally forget about it but sometimes it comes back to me and scares me."
The girl, who was 12 at the time of the attack, told how she appealed in vain to Campbell's conscience, saying: "I'm only 12, why are you doing this?"
Judge William Wood QC said: "It is difficult to exaggerate the degree of harm done. In each case the victim has been profoundly affected by the trauma.
"The culpability in my judgment is extreme because you have a wife at home.
"It is not the case that you are some sad and lonely man with no roots or home to go to and of who it might be said that he could have been unaware of the consequences to a woman.
"You must have known what it meant to these women."
Campbell was told he would have to serve at least 10 years before he would become eligible for parole.
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