'Monster' raped women he targeted on dating apps

A "monster" who raped two women he targeted through dating apps has been jailed for 12 years and seven months.

Daniel Holland, 39, was on police bail for raping a woman in southern England when he launched a similar attack on another woman on Wearside, Newcastle Crown Court heard.

Holland admitted two counts of rape and wounding the first woman, having broken her ribs in an assault.

He was also jailed concurrently for a year for sending sexually explicit messages to what he thought was a 13-year-old girl, but was actually an online child abuse hunting group.

Holland, who worked as a Royal Navy harbour pilot for more than 20 years, was living in the Bournemouth area when he contacted the profile of a girl on Facebook and told her she looked "stunning", prosecutor Daniel Cordey said.

Despite being told the girl was 13, messages quickly became sexual, with Holland describing in graphic detail acts he wanted to perform with her and telling her he bet she "looked good in her school uniform".

The profile was actually run by the Online Child Safety Team who reported him to police, with Holland telling officers it was "drunken flirtation" and he did not know the girl's age.

He was eventually found guilty of that offence at Bournemouth Crown Court, the court heard, but before that case concluded Holland raped a woman he met on Plenty of Fish and broke her ribs in an attack.

He was charged with rape and released on bail, moving to the Newcastle area, the court heard.

A day after arriving in the North East, Holland "very quickly" targeted a second victim on Tinder because of her "perceived vulnerability," Mr Cordey said, and within a week had raped her.

He had initially denied both rapes but changed his pleas for the first woman on the second day of his trial and for the second woman shortly before a jury was sworn in.

In a statement read to the court, the first woman said Holland was a "monster" who left her in "so much pain".

She said she now needed counselling and antidepressants.

The second woman said she was a "totally different person" because of Holland, adding she suffered flashbacks and felt "angry and frustrated".

In mitigation, Susannah Proctor said Holland had lost his job in the Merchant Navy because of the child sex case and was drinking heavily at the time of the rapes.

She said he was "deeply shocked by his conduct" and apologised to his victims.

Judge Edward Bindloss said the women were "taken in" by Holland on the dating apps but had their trust "shattered".

He said Holland posed a "high risk of harm" to women and children, and showed a "complete disregard" for his victims and had an "unswerving commitment to [his] own selfish needs".

Having been deemed "dangerous" by the judge, Holland must also serve an extra five years on extended licence upon his eventual release from prison.

Holland, of no fixed abode, was also made subject to a sexual harm prevention order banning him from contacting children online and must sign the sex offenders register for life.

Restraining orders stopping him from contacting his victims were also made to last for 15 years.

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