A man who raped a woman twice before attempting to murder her has been sentenced to life imprisonment.

Aaron Murphy, 21, of no fixed address, was sentenced at the Central Criminal Court on Friday (August 14).

Police were called to Havelock Place, Harrow, on May 21 at 2.54am to reports of a disturbance.

Officers responded swiftly within six minutes and found a woman visibly distressed suffering serious injuries – as then reported she was raped and beaten by a stranger in the road.

London Ambulance Service also attended, and the victim was taken to hospital.

Public Protection detectives from the North West command unit launched an investigation and the victim was supported by specialist officers throughout.

During crime scene enquiries the next day, members of the public alerted officers at the scene to a man acting suspiciously. Officers conducted immediate searches for the suspect and found Murphy hiding up a fire escape on a nearby block of flats. He was arrested on suspicion of rape and taken into police custody.

During his police interview, Murphy admitted that he intended to kill the victim after he’d raped her twice, violently beating her up. It was only the sound of the police sirens that made him stop and run away.

CCTV showed Murphy running behind the victim, grabbing her and dragging her into a service road to an underground car park.

The victim sustained a fractured cheek bone, two swollen and bruised eyes, purple bruising all over face and neck and scraped knees.

He was charged with two counts of rape and attempted murder after pleading guilty at the Central Criminal Court on May 22.

He was deemed to be a dangerous offender and was jailed for life with a minimum tariff of 9 years and will also be on the Sex Offenders' register for life.

Detective Sergeant Michael Daly, the officer in the case, said: “Murphy is clearly a very dangerous individual and prison is the only place for him. When describing to officers his sick behaviour, he was callous and uncaring, unbothered by the devastation and ordeal he has just caused.

“The judge recognised the dangerousness of Murphy by sentencing him to life imprisonment and commented that no other sentence would adequately protect the public.

“I commend the members of the public who helped us quickly identify and locate the suspect and the investigation team for their excellent work, which has also been recognised by the judge.

“Although the victim is still recovering from her physical injuries, she will have to live the rest of her life with the trauma of what happened that night. Despite this, she has been extremely brave throughout the investigation, and I hope that knowing he is behind bars will give her some comfort.”

Commander Melanie Dales, head of Met’s Public Protection said: “Firstly, I want to acknowledge the bravery of the survivor and the trauma she suffered. I want to encourage victims to come forward and I want them to know that the Met takes these matters exceptionally seriously and we will work with them and the CPS to pursue all allegations made.

“This sentence was an excellent result and I want to thank the officers who first responded to the incident and to DS Daly and his team for the excellent investigative work and dedication to their role.”