UK: Hours before his wedding, man drags stranger to park, rapes her; jailed

London: A man was awarded three life sentences for a minimum of nine years on Friday for raping a stranger and humiliating her.

After raping his victim, he took pictures of her, mocked her that he had not filmed her and then fled after stealing her bra and mobile phone, according to a report in the Daily Mirror. The incident took place hours before he got married to his pregnant fiancée.

Derry McCann, 28, dragged his victim into the undergrowth in a park in east London on January 13. Before raping her, he played ‘mind games’ with her and repeatedly asked her if she thought he was going to rape her. He had even demanded cash from her before dragging her away.

On March 2, he pleaded guilty to three counts of rape, one count of sexual assault by penetration and robbery for the crime he committed on January 13.

At the Snaresbrook Crown Court court, Judge Martyn Zeidman QC, the honorary recorder of Redbridge told McCann that the manner in which the crime was committed was shocking.

“In addition to the physical pain, you set out to degrade and humiliate her in ways that are so cruel and gross that I will not identify them any further”, Zeidman said.

Zeidman said he was astonished that he raped his victim just hours before getting married to his partner.

According to prosecutor Kate Bex QC, McCann carried out "a sustained and systematic attack", and played "mind games in an attempt to control the victim".

The defence, Edmund Vickers QC, said that his client had been diagnosed with a personality disorder, but it was not enough to warrant a hospital order.

McCann had received a life sentence in 2006 for a similar attack on a stranger. He was required to serve a minimum of nine years before he could be released on parole. He was released in December 2015.

Back then, as a teenager, McCann, along with a friend forcibly took his victim to a secluded area of Mile End Park. His friend left after McCann told him that he was going to have fun with her and then kill her.

He raped the victim under the threat that his friend would come back and kill her if she resisted. He went on to tell her that he wanted her to have his baby and that he’d lock her up in his basement where he kept other women.