A ‘Jekyll and Hyde’ rapist who preyed on a 49-y

A ‘Jekyll and Hyde’ rapist who preyed on a 49-year-old
woman was sent to a mental hospital by an Old Bailey judge today
Monday.

Seamus Henry, 37, acted like a perfect gentleman when
he met the woman through a mutual friend.

But once he had lured her into his filthy flat Henry’s
other personality took over and he went berserk, said prosecutor
Mr Andrew Campbell.

During a terrible ordeal the woman was repeatedly raped
and made to indulge in humiliating sex acts.

Henry had chatted to the woman several times before they
went to a Croydon pub with the mutual friend on May 7 last year.

The rapist and his victim stayed drinking together after
their friend left, the court heard.

Later Henry invited the woman home for a coffee and they
walked back to his flat in nearby Sussex Road.

‘The house was virtually derelict.

The windows were
broken, there was no furniture and the rooms were full of
rubbish,’ said Mr Campbell.

‘He took her inside and told her to lie on some cushions
on the floor.

‘
Henry then grabbed the woman by the hair and tried to
yank down her knickers and tights.

She was then forced to indulged in sex acts before Henry
raped her.

He then bundled her into another room and raped her
again.

Henry said ‘just one more time’ and prepared to launch
another sex attack, but the victim managed to run to one of the
smashed windows and scream for help.

Two passers-by bravely dashed into the flat and held the
rapist until the police arrived.

Henry told police he believed the woman had consented to
sex but admitted rape in court.

He was jailed for five years in 1982 for attempting to
rape an 11-year-old girl.

And seven years earlier Henry was jailed for eight months
for indecently assaulting an eight-year-old.

Making an order under Section 37 of the Mental Health
Act, Judge Stephen Mitchell, QC, told stony-faced Henry: ‘Doctors
have gone to great trouble to investigate your mental state.

‘I am satisfied that you are suffering from mental
illness and indeed psychotic disorder, and I am satisfied your
condition makes it necessary for you to be treated in hospital.

‘
ENDS