Rapist who attacked a woman in an alleyway in Leighton Buzzard is jailed

A rapist who attacked a woman in a Leighton Buzzard alleyway has been jailed for more than nine years.

Loui Cadman, 25, had followed his victim down the alleyway from Lake Street towards Duncombe Drive, at around 1.30am on November 20 last year.

Police were alerted by a member of door staff at a nearby pub, who said that a woman had approached them crying and saying that she had been raped.

When they arrived, the victim was able to tell them where Cadman – who was a stranger – had attacked her.

Police later spotted him on CCTV jogging behind the victim towards the alleyway before they both disappeared out of sight. Around six minutes later, the victim was seen leaving the alleyway and walking towards the pub where she spoke to the doorman who called police.

Officers tracked Cadman down during a search of the area, and arrested him. And when they seized his phone, they found he had “intimately filmed” the victim while she was in the alleyway.

You can watch the moment he was arrested in the video above.

Today (Tuesday) Cadman, of Meadow Way, Leighton Buzzard was sentenced to nine years and three months in prison, with an extended license of three years, for rape, voyeurism, possession of indecent images and possession of cannabis.

Her Honour Judge Herbert deemed Cadman to be a "danger to women" and described his behaviour as predatory.

Summing up, she said: “You understood what you were doing was extremely wrong, you were opportunistic and this was a calculated choice on your part I believe.”

Detective Sergeant Shona Birkby, from Bedfordshire Police’s Rape and Serious Sexual Offences (RASSO) team, said: “Cadman targeted the victim as she was vulnerable, on her own and there weren’t many people around at that time.

"He had initially approached her on the street but when he saw her walk down the alleyway, he went after her knowing it was his opportunity to get her on her own.

“We have a relentless focus on male violence against women and girls, including in the night time economy.

"Women deserve to be, and feel, safe when they are out at night in public places, and we will pursue predators like Cadman who threaten that safety to put them behind bars.

“We know that people may feel some behaviour which makes them feel unsafe or uncomfortable is not worth reporting to police – but we want to know about it."These patterns can escalate into serious offences, and we want to take action to stop predatory behaviour as early as we can.

“The victim in this case endured a horrific experience and shown tremendous courage to help bring Cadman to justice. I hope she in particular feels a sense of closure today.”