Serial sex offender caught due to 2019 rape DNA

A "dangerous serial sex offender" who targeted women on their way home from nights out has been jailed for rape and attempted rape after DNA analysis linked him to another attack.

Mariyan Grudev, 39, of Thelwall Lane, Warrington, tried to rape a 19-year-old woman in the town in July 2023 but she managed to escape.

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said that when he was arrested for the attack, his DNA sample matched one taken from a woman who had been raped in Warrington in 2019.

Grudev, who admitted the attempted rape but denied the 2019 rape, was sentenced at Liverpool Crown Court to life with a minimum term of 12 years and 175 days.

He was found guilty after a trial at Chester Crown Court.

The CPS said the 19-year-old woman was walking home from a night out in Warrington town centre on 29 July 2023 when she heard footsteps behind her.

After turning to see Grudev, she crossed the road but he followed her and asked her name.

She gave him a false name and her fears about him increased.

Grudev then grabbed her from behind, put his hand around her mouth, and forced her into a bush.

Prosecutors said that after fighting back, she managed to get away to a nearby supermarket and raise the alarm.

Grudev was later caught on CCTV trying to approach other young women in Warrington town centre.

A media appeal led police to Grudev and he was arrested the next day.

A sample of his DNA was taken which matched one that had been taken from a woman who was raped as she walked home on 22 December 2019.

Grudev was arrested for this rape while already in custody for the attempted rape.

He has also been given restraining orders preventing him from ever contacting the two women.

In a statement read to the court, the victim of the 2019 attack said: "I'd never previously had a panic attack, but I still do, even now.

"I felt violated and like my right to autonomy was stripped away from me.

"I've since found it difficult to form relationships with people."

James Ball, of the CPS, said Grudev was "a dangerous, serial sex offender" who targeted woman who were on their own.

CCTV showed that he was "determined" to attack a woman on that night in 2023 despite the earlier attempt being thwarted.

"He had no concern for the feelings of his victims and has not expressed remorse for what he put these women through," said Mr Ball.

"In moving statements, they have spoken of the long-lasting impact of what Grudev did to them - their ongoing fear, their struggle to regain the lives they'd had before, and to regain their confidence."

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