A serial sexual predator who attacked eight women in four days in London has been jailed for life

A man has been jailed for life for carrying out “a campaign of rape and attempted rape” after being released from a secure hospital.

Louis Collins carried out the attacks – which included the rape or attempted rape of three different women between August 18 and 21 last year – after leaving Lambeth Hospital in south London, where he had been admitted for previous sexual assaults.

The 29-year-old was jailed for life with a minimum term of 11 years, five months and 26 days at Kingston Crown Court on Tuesday after targeting eight women over four days in London last summer.

Among other crimes, Collins raped a woman exercising alone in a park with a knife, followed a woman home and attempted to rape her in her building, and attempted to rape a woman he followed from a bus.

He committed the offenses while on day release under a hospital order and was being considered for release back into the community.

A judge said Collins had “received 12 ecstasy tablets every fortnight” and smoked cannabis while in Lambeth Hospital, adding he was “not unwell” when he committed the offences.

Judge Simon Heptonstall, Kingston Crown Court

Collins, of no fixed address, was also subject to a Sexual Harm Prevention Order at the time of the offenses which prohibited him from “approaching, willfully stalking, speaking or communicating with any female not known to you in public”.

In his sentencing remarks, Judge Simon Heptonstall told Collins: “Your behavior has been the stuff of nightmares for all women and their families.

“It was a campaign of rape and attempted rape over a short period of time against multiple victims, some less serious but far from minor offences.”

The offenses included the rape of a woman who was exercising alone in Marble Hill Park in Twickenham, south-west London, on August 21 last year.

Collins struck and then kidnapped the victim, holding a knife to her throat and telling her he would stab and kill her if she screamed.

Judge Heptonstall said the victim “doesn’t feel safe anymore” and is “hypervigilant”.

He added: “She can’t go out on her own, her house feels like a prison. She can’t work the same way. She remains haunted by your attack.

“She is determined to fight to get her life back and refuses to be defined by what you did to her.”

Collins was apprehended at Richmond train station after pushing the barriers at 9.40am on August 21, within half an hour of the victim returning home and seeking help.

Police officers returned Collins to Lambeth Hospital, where he was arrested at 9pm that day in connection with the rape.

Other offenses committed by Collins included sexually assaulting a woman on an escalator at Clapham Common tube station on August 18.

On August 20, Collins followed a woman home in the City of London, forced his way into her building and attempted to rape her.

The next day, he chased a woman off a bus to Willesden Green and then stalked her, punching her as he tried to rape her – the attack stopped by someone arriving with a baseball bat.

Also on August 21, he sexually assaulted another woman he followed off a bus, telling her: “I’m going to cut you.”

Judge Heptonstall said Collins had “established a pattern of sexual offending since 2015”, which included sexually assaulting a 14-year-old boy in a McDonald’s in November 2019.

These attacks resulted in a hospital order being imposed on Collins at Kingston Crown Court on 3 April 2020.

The judge said Collins, who had previously been diagnosed with hebephrenic schizophrenia, had been using drugs since the age of 12, starting with cannabis and moving on to ecstasy, ketamine and cocaine in 2019.

Addressing Collins, who gave him a thumbs up as he left the dock, he said: “You are using drugs at the time of these offences. You were given 12 ecstasy tablets every two weeks while you were in the hospital. You smoke cannabis.

“Your leave had been cut earlier in the year and that made the voices worse. They told you to rape a girl and have sex with a girl. You have not spoken to the staff about this.”

Judge Heptonstall said the fact that there was “very limited capacity in prisons at the moment” was considered “minimal” in terms of sentencing because Collins was already in prison and “clearly needs to go to prison”.

He added that there was “not only a significant but a very high risk” that Collins would commit further sex offences.

Collins was convicted of rape, attempted rape, assault by penetration, sexual assault, kidnapping and committing a felony with intent to commit a sex offense and trespassing with intent to commit a sex offense.

He was also convicted of threatening to kill, outraging public decency, actual bodily harm, strangulation, threatening with a blade and threatening with an offensive weapon.

Detective Inspector Simon Sherlock, from the South West Command Unit, said: “Collins is a dangerous predator and the length of his sentence reflects the level of risk he poses to the public.

“Our thoughts today are with the women he sexually assaulted and I would like to thank them for their courage and their help in our investigation.

“Working with our colleagues at British Transport Police and the City of London Police, we were able to link Collins to a number of offenses and he has now been brought to justice.

“The Met is working hard to tackle violence against women and girls and we are committed to identifying offenders and bringing them to justice.

“While there is no evidence at this time to suggest wrongdoing by Collins, I would urge anyone who may be a victim to come forward and speak to us. If you don’t want to contact the officers, there are a number of charities and organizations that can offer support.”