'Depraved' sexual predator who raped and secretly filmed woman at his Peterborough home jailed

Craig France, 33, targeted young women at nightclubs and plied them with alcohol before taking them to his property where he had set up hidden cameras.

France recorded himself carrying out sexual acts on some of his victims while they were unconscious or sleeping.

He was arrested in September last year and initially denied the crimes, but pleaded guilty to rape, sexual assault, three counts of voyeurism and exposure at a hearing last month.

During the investigation, police identified four victims, but it’s believed there could be more.

France’s offending came to light in August last year after a woman reported he had raped her two years previous, and she was now aware he had filmed it.

The victim had been given a shot of “Sambuca” by France while they were in his garden and the next thing she knew, she woke up in his bed with no recollection of what had happened, but knew something untoward had taken place.

Officers trawled through more than 6,000 disturbing images and videos of several unidentified women, who were secretly filmed at his home between March 2022 and September 2023.

They also found the video which showed the victim being raped by France, while she appeared to be “lifeless”.

It showed France carrying the victim, who was unable to stand, before dropping her in a hot tub and then dragging her on a concrete floor.

A further three victims were identified from the videos and images, who were distraught to learn they had unknowingly been filmed, with one saying she felt France had “taken her dignity” and another saying she felt “disgusted”.

On one occasion, France can be seen sexually assaulting a victim as she lay asleep on his sofa and, on another, he filmed an unsuspecting woman’s body in a sexual manner, close-up.

Officers also found a clip where France was seen naked in daylight at a roadside in the Broxbourne area of Hertfordshire.

On Monday (March 31), at Cambridge Crown Court, France, of Hammonds Drive, Fengate, was sentenced to 10 years and seven months years in prison. He was also handed an indefinite Sexual Harm Prevention Order (SHPO).

Sentencing, Judge Mr Justice Mark Bishop said: "The nature of those offences show you were predatory towards those women and, when they were incapacitated, you filmed them. Your comments showed no understanding of consent and you are on a journey of further understand of consent. You are misogynistic about women which is deeply unattractive and concerning.

"You accept you became obsessed with recording social activities, that developed into recording your sexual activities. You have an attraction to risky behaviour and I judge that in this case a sense of sexual entitlement, coupled with taking risks and poor self-esteem, is a toxic risk.

"You have not offended since being in a new relationship. That demonstrates the risk that is posed when an relationship ends. This is extraordinary behaviour to engage at the age of 33. You are a risk to society."