William Trotter, 39, appeared before Croydon Crown Court today, Wednesday 16th December and sentenced to life imprisonment, to serve a minimum of 12 years. He had recently been released from a life sentence for a similar attack 14 years ago, but had convinced the Parole Board that he was no longer a threat.
During an earlier hearing, Trotter, of Dagonet Road, Bromley was found guilty of rape and kidnap with intent to commit a sexual offence following a 12-day trial. He was jailed for eight years for the kidnap, to run concurrently with his life sentence. He is also to remain on licence and on the sex offenders’ register for life.
The court heard how on Thursday 19th March, Trotter attacked his teenage victim moments after they both got off the N199 bus to Bromley, south London. She was on her way to visit her boyfriend.
The court heard the victim got off at her stop and began walking down Southborough Lane towards Turpington Lane. Trotter paused momentarily and then got off the bus but initially turned left, as if to head in the opposite direction to the victim.
As the bus pulled away, the nearside camera of the bus captured Trotter starting to run down Southborough Lane in the same direction that the victim was walking.
As the victim crossed the road along Turpington Lane, near to a grassy area, Trotter attacked his victim by hitting her over the head with an unknown object, knocking her to the ground.
He then dragged the victim into some undergrowth, where he raped her.
A witness heard the victims’ terrified screams, saw Trotter leaning over her and called 999 immediately. The officers arrived within four minutes of the call being made. As they arrived, the victim stumbled out of the bushes.
Officers spotted Trotter in the bushes but lost sight of him as he fled the scene, climbing over a fence into an allotment.
A media appeal was quickly published, appealing for witnesses. With the CCTV image of Trotter circulated, numerous people, including former partners, came forward identifying the man in the image as William Trotter.
At the same time, Trotter fled to Scotland in an apparent bid to evade justice. Detectives launched a nationwide manhunt and he was tracked down and arrested when he returned to London.
Detective Constable Penelope Rea, the investigating officer, said: “The victim, a young woman, has been through a terrible ordeal and continues to show strength and courage. While nothing will ever take away the trauma of what happened I hope that the sentence handed down today can begin to help her close this chapter of her life.
“Trotter is a dangerous sexual offender who has been taken off the streets thanks to a number of organisations working together to identify and ultimately apprehend Trotter. We are grateful to Police Scotland for their assistance and to TfL in providing valuable evidence that has helped secure this conviction.
“This case serves to highlight our dedication to apprehending sexual predators and bringing them to justice.”
Passing sentence, Judge Elizabeth Lowe told the rapist: ‘You identified her as a target within seconds of seeing her.
‘You were chasing after her at speed. When you got within distance of her you struck her with immense power, dragged her into the bushes where you violently raped her.
‘You grabbed her around the throat. Throughout the ordeal, she was drifting in and out of consciousness and you told her to shut up or you would f-king kill her.
‘It was only the arrival of the police that caused you to stop what you were doing.
‘The acts of physical violence that you committed were horrific, her face was covered in blood, her hair was matted from the material of the ground.
‘She emerged from the bushes half-naked with her clothes trailing behind. She was begging for help and begging for her mum.
‘You’ve demonstrated absolutely no remorse for your actions.
She told Trotter he was an extremely violent serial sex offender and an extreme risk to the public.
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Are rape victims allowed on Parole boards, if not maybe they should be things may change then.
Name those that said it was safe to release him then sack them as they obviously aren’t up to the job,
If the monster was such a violent sex offender and a threat to the public why on earth was he released on parole by idiotic do-gooders on the Parole Board??
All releases by the Parole Board should be the first step not the only step to release.
How can the lives and safety of the general public be put at risk like this? They need to be assured that they can’t make any more mistakes?