The court later heard how Mulcahy told friends he

The court later heard how Mulcahy told friends he enjoyed sex with his wife as she was submissive.

Mr Dennis said the defendant described how his wife would lie back and do what she was told without complaint.

He allegedly told friends that that is how women should behave and it gave him a thrill.

The jury heard Mulcahy was loud and a ‘Jack the lad’ who liked to be the centre of attention, while Duffy was a ‘quiet, introvert loner’.

They had often discussed how it would feel to rape a woman, and one weekend when both of their wives were away they decided to carry out their first attack.

In October 1982, a 21-year-old from Park Royal, west London, was attacked in the early hours of the morning as she left a takeaway in Kilburn.

Duffy and Mulcahy – both wearing balaclavas – ran up to her in the street, grabbed her from behind, and forced her into a side road.

They then bundled her over a wall raped her at knifepoint.

In March 1983, a restaurant manager was on her way home from work when the pair snatched her at Finchley Road railway station.

But the 29-year-old managed to fight the two off – even biting one of them – and they fled.

Duffy and Mulcahy next struck in January 1984, when they grabbed a 32-year-old social worker as she walked out of Barnes railway station in south-west London.

They dragged her onto Barnes Common, and one raped her before the other assaulted her.

During the attack, the pair threatened to gouge her eyes out and cut off her ears if she screamed.

In June 1984, a 23-year-old from St Albans, Herts, was waiting for a train on the platform at Hampstead station when Duffy and Mulcahy pounced.

They held a knife to her throat, dragged across the railway lines, taped her eyes shut, and raped her.

After demanding her name and going through her pockets, they fled across the tracks.

Duffy told officers that when they first saw the woman on the platform, Mulcahy said: ‘There’s one waiting to happen.

‘

The next attack was on a 22-year-old on Hampstead Heath in July 1984.

She was grabbed from behind at knifepoint in a street, threatened that she would be ‘cut up’ if she screamed, and then had her mouth taped.

But the woman made such a noise as Duffy and Mulcahy manhandled her through the undergrowth that a nearby resident shouted out of his window, causing them to flee, the jury heard.

Mr Dennis said: ‘The victim later said that the taller of the two men wielded the knife and played the dominant role.

‘

Duffy told police that following the failed rape bid, he and Mulcahy drove back past the scene to see if there were officers there.

He said Mulcahy ordered him to hide so it looked as if there was only one person in the car.

He also said that the police presence ‘added to the excitement’, and claimed Mulcahy said he was ‘disappointed such an attractive girl had not ben raped’.

A week later, they allegedly pounced again, attacking two young Danish au pairs on Hampstead Heath.

After forcing the 18-year-olds into some woods, Mulcahy sexually assaulted one while Duffy raped the other, the court heard.

As they drove away from the scene, Duffy claimed he and Mulcahy agreed that having two victims was ‘more exciting’.

In November 1984, the pair were arrested for stealing building materials late at night.

But although police found a balaclava in Mulcahy’s car, he made an excuse and they were simply fined for burglary by magistrates several days later.

The next attack came in January 1985, when Duffy and Mulcahy grabbed a 20-year-old German au pair near her home in Brent Cross in the early hours of the morning, the court heard.

They forced her to walk to a canal bridge some distance away, before blindfolding her with her own scarf and raping her at knifepoint, it is claimed.

At one stage, a group of people walked across the bridge overheard, but the woman was too terrified to scream for help.

There then followed a series of abandoned assaults.

Four days after the canal rape, they snatched a 17-year-old as she walked home from work at 8pm, and frogmarched her onto Hampstead Heath.

But as Mulcahy groped her, Duffy told him someone was coming and they fled.

He claimed Mulcahy later complained: ‘I lost a virgin.

‘

Three days later, they attacked a 23-year-old French au pair on the Heath, but ran off when she began kicking and screaming.

And a month after that, they dragged another woman, also 23, to flats in Hampstead Heath and tried to rape her.

But as Mulcahy allegedly punched and threatened her in a doorway, Duffy again intervened and they walked off.

Duffy later told police that in the first and third case, he had pulled Mulcahy away because he was concerned at the level of violence his pal was using.

Mr Dennis said: ‘Duffy claimed to have taken fright at the defendant’s manner, and was fearful that he was going to do more than a sexual attack.

‘He said he got scared of what was happening.

It seemed the defendant was getting particularly aggressive and the victim was terrified.

‘But the very next night, they were back on the prowl.

‘

Duffy and Mulcahy grabbed a 25-year-old solicitor’s clerk as she walked home near Hampstead, and forced her onto the Heath, the court heard.

They took her to a wooden bench, gagged and blindfolded her, and threatened to ‘slash’ her if she made a sound.

Mulcahy then allgedly assaulted the woman before Duffy raped her on the bench.

They warned her not to go to the police, told her to wait half-an-hour, and fled.

Mr Dennis added: ‘Duffy said that afterwards they went back to the car and drove off.

‘He said they were so excited by the event that they actually spent more time that night looking for another victim before returning home.

‘

The jury is due to hear details on the murders of Mrs Lock, Miss Day, and Miss Tamboezer this afternoon, before the first rape victim gives evidence.

ends

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