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slash TCE. Hello

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all and a very warmest of welcomes

4:22

to the True Crime Enthusiasts podcast where

4:24

each time around from my study in

4:26

North Wales, yes I've upgraded

4:28

now, I strive to bring

4:31

you those tales of true crime you

4:33

haven't heard a thousand times over on

4:35

other shows, often the long

4:37

forgotten or unfamiliar tales, some

4:39

so out there they're scarcely believable

4:41

as true, but which all

4:43

are. All brought to you by myself

4:46

Paul, the creator, host and true crime

4:48

enthusiast of the show's title, I

4:50

am joined by my beloved black

4:52

and white menace, Pixie the true

4:54

crime enthusiast who as we know

4:57

is never far from me at all and

4:59

we are completed by yourselves, the enthusiasts that

5:01

the show is for and who make it

5:03

go around simple as. It is as fabulous

5:06

as it always is having you join us

5:08

today which I thank you for and I

5:10

do hope that as you have done, you

5:13

join us for a tale that finds you and

5:15

yours all good, all safe

5:17

and all well. So

5:22

if you're a Patreon supporter of the

5:24

show, and by the way I haven't

5:26

forgotten shoutouts at all, they will be

5:28

coming next time around, I am really

5:30

playing catch up somewhat here with myself,

5:32

but I promise you they're coming. But

5:35

if you are a Patreon supporter and you've

5:37

heard the latest tale out, Predator

5:39

on Plenty of Fish, then

5:42

you'll know for that tale I

5:44

delved into the horrors that can

5:46

come with a murky and somewhat

5:48

dangerous world of online dating. Now

5:50

once a niche alternative to chatting up people

5:52

in real life, online dating

5:55

apps have become in recent years the

5:57

absolute norm for a lot of people.

6:00

just download an app like Plenty

6:02

of Fish, Tinder, Grindr, whatever floats

6:04

your boat, and within seconds you

6:06

can be browsing a limitless stream

6:08

of potential partners, and

6:10

whilst if you're sensible with it, I'm

6:12

sure that it can undoubtedly be rewarding.

6:16

When I was researching the Patreon tailboat, I

6:18

was so dismayed just how many horror stories

6:21

there are to do with it that I

6:23

came across, tales from

6:25

Plenty of Fish, Tinder, Grindr,

6:28

the list goes on. Now there

6:30

are several accounts that I've researched which

6:32

will all come over time on the

6:34

show, but I've selected one of these

6:37

to bring to you for this time

6:39

around. There are

6:41

many names that could suit the individual

6:43

concerned, I'm sure you can think of

6:46

a choice for you as the episode

6:48

progresses, but I've opted for

6:50

Monster, which I think ticks all

6:52

of the boxes, as politely

6:55

as I can be. From

6:57

his crimes to taking into context,

6:59

we're looking at an individual here

7:02

who is more prolific a serial

7:04

rapist than both Peter Cook

7:06

and Tony Maclean, both names we've

7:08

met some years ago on The

7:11

Enthusiast, and could quite well be

7:13

one of the most prolific sex

7:15

offenders in British criminal history. I

7:18

kid you not, yes. All

7:21

anonymity of those affected by the actions

7:23

you will hear within the tail has

7:26

been maintained, and because we're talking about

7:28

two trials here, I have brought the

7:30

tales of the victim somewhat in chronological

7:32

order of the offences, there may be

7:34

a bit of time jumping, but I shall

7:37

explain as I go along. The

7:39

episode contains details and descriptions of

7:42

crimes and events, including descriptions of

7:44

a sexual nature, that

7:46

some listeners may find disturbing and

7:48

or distressing, so please use

7:51

discretion whilst listening in all. The

7:53

following accounts are not meant for sensationalism

7:56

or to shock people. I include

7:58

them in the detail that I do. because

8:00

I want you to feel how I did

8:02

when I was researching it. Two

8:04

things particularly. The evil

8:07

actions that an individual can come up

8:09

with and the ripples these can have

8:12

and the bravery of some people. Bearing

8:15

that in mind, please join the

8:17

true crime enthusiasts for an episode

8:19

I've entitled, Monster

8:22

on Match. Back

8:28

in 2014, then 49 year

8:31

old Hampshire resident Jason Lawrence,

8:33

a 17 stone former boxer

8:35

and successful building contractor, came

8:38

across as the conventionally masculine, confident

8:40

and capable type. The kind of

8:42

man who could be relied on.

8:46

Born on the 12th April 1965 and raised in the village

8:50

of Burbage in Leicestershire, Lawrence

8:52

held an interest in rugby, played

8:55

football for his village team and

8:57

took up amateur boxing as a

8:59

teenager at the now defunct Belgrave

9:01

Boxing Club in Leicester. An

9:04

acquaintance of Lawrence's who'd attended school with

9:06

him in Hinckley in Leicestershire in the

9:08

late 1970s and early 1980s said

9:12

of him later, Jason

9:14

Lawrence had a reputation for being a

9:16

hard boy, the hardest in his

9:19

year. You didn't pick a fight with

9:21

him. Conversely

9:23

though, a former coach of

9:25

Lawrence's from the boxing club remembers him

9:27

as an average

9:30

performer who won a few and lost

9:32

a few. He wasn't a big

9:34

lad. Lawrence

9:37

left school at age 16

9:39

and became an apprentice bricklayer,

9:41

later setting up his own

9:43

company L&P Engineering Limited and

9:45

moving into the lucrative property development

9:48

market, building houses all

9:50

over the Leicestershire area. Although

9:53

he never married his long-term partner Fiona Lloyd

9:55

who he'd met in 1986, they went on

9:57

to have three three

10:00

children together, James, Joshua

10:02

and daughter Jade, and

10:05

settled down in one of the luxury homes

10:07

that Lawrence had built in Hinckley. And

10:10

for many years, they were seemingly

10:12

a happy enough family, one of

10:14

these types that featured often with

10:16

notices placed in the local paper

10:18

detailing one of them's birth date

10:20

or the birth of a new

10:22

child, anniversaries, that type of thing. While

10:25

neighbours spoken to later recalled a somewhat

10:27

overbearing man who liked to give the

10:30

impression that he owned the area, a

10:32

former associate of Lawrence's said, he

10:35

seemed to be a perfectly pleasant guy. However,

10:39

he added, I was

10:41

absolutely shocked to hear the allegations against

10:44

him. It's not something you

10:46

could have seen coming based on his

10:48

nature. Indeed,

10:51

Lawrence, the loud, larger-than-life

10:54

character, the successful businessman

10:56

and father, the boxing

10:58

and rugby fan, he was even

11:00

an under-elevens rugby coach, and

11:02

the father of three seemed to be almost

11:05

a hero to many who knew him. His

11:08

middle son Josh described him later

11:11

as, my role

11:13

model, my father taught me

11:15

everything from how to kick a

11:17

football to protecting others. We,

11:20

meaning he and Lawrence's other children,

11:23

we all seem to be doing well and this

11:25

can only be because of the way we were

11:27

brought up. These

11:30

words, however, were not spoken as some

11:33

glowing testimony to a friend in the

11:35

pub or bragging to a workmate about

11:37

how wonderful your dad is. They

11:41

were spoken from the witness box of

11:43

Darby Crann Court in February 2016 and

11:46

were given as part of a character reference

11:49

Josh had given for his father. For

11:51

that month, the then 50-year-old building

11:54

contractor had gone on trial.

11:56

They charged for the litany

11:58

of serious sexual offenses. against

12:01

several different women, dating back over

12:03

the previous few years and

12:05

spanning several counties of the UK.

12:10

So what causes such

12:12

a sea change in a person?

12:17

Seemingly in 2009, Lawrence's

12:19

relationship with the mother of his

12:22

children, Fiona, appears to have broken

12:24

down. There are no

12:26

reports as to why, though as the

12:28

tale progresses you can perhaps hazard a

12:30

guess, and he'd moved out of

12:32

the family home. He

12:35

had soon placed himself onto

12:37

the dating sites match.com and

12:39

Dating Direct, at least those

12:42

are the only two he was reportedly

12:44

on anyway, and

12:46

begun to contact women from there. Hundreds,

12:50

if not thousands of women. When

12:53

on screen, the builder and property

12:55

developer was able to present himself as

12:58

a respectable singleton and a father of

13:00

grown up children. For many

13:02

of the women, unfortunate enough to

13:04

click on one of his two

13:06

known pictureless match.com profiles, using

13:09

the screen names Keep It

13:11

Straight Today and Straight Man

13:13

Looking, or to respond

13:15

to one of his messages, Lawrence

13:17

was apparently exactly what they were looking

13:20

for. Most of those

13:22

who went on to arrange dates with him were in their

13:24

late 40s or early 50s, and

13:27

were looking for love and companionship

13:29

after being divorced or widowed. When

13:32

they met him in the flesh, however, they

13:34

were to learn in the vilest manner

13:36

imaginable that Lawrence was nothing

13:39

like his on-screen alter-ego, which

13:42

resulted in him almost seven years

13:44

later facing charges of raping five

13:47

women he'd met on dating websites,

13:50

victims from five counties, Derbyshire,

13:53

Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Northamptonshire

13:56

and Cambridgeshire, attempting

13:58

to rape a sixth woman. woman and

14:01

sexually assaulting another between June 2011 and

14:03

November 2014, charges which he

14:10

denied. That

14:12

was just to begin with also. The

14:17

court heard Lawrence used his

14:19

two pictureless profiles on match.com

14:21

and Dating Direct to contact

14:23

thousands of women, but was

14:26

keener to bring the talk to

14:28

women offline and on to text

14:30

almost immediately, specifically with

14:32

women who were divorced or widowed

14:35

and many who were lonely and

14:37

vulnerable, saying to them he was

14:39

unable to upload a profile picture for

14:41

technical reasons. Sean

14:45

Smith KC, prosecuting, told

14:47

the jury, We

14:49

suggest that's because he was keen to

14:52

engineer a situation where he persuaded women

14:54

to make contact with him privately by

14:56

phone or text message or email so

14:59

he was not being watched by

15:01

the match.com website. The

15:04

court heard that following a complaint made

15:07

in Derbyshire in November 2014, Lawrence had

15:11

been arrested and detectives uncovered

15:13

a string of women that he was

15:15

believed to have attacked over the previous

15:17

years. Mr Smith

15:20

continued, As

15:22

a result of police checks whilst he was

15:24

in custody, a rather disturbing

15:26

picture emerged about the defendant's

15:28

relationship with women, in

15:31

particular women with whom he had

15:33

had contact on match.com. It

15:37

was also revealed Lawrence had been arrested

15:40

on suspicion of rape in Lincolnshire in

15:42

2013, though

15:44

he was bailed and no charges were

15:46

brought against him due to lack of

15:49

evidence. The

15:51

harrowing details that had led to that courtroom

15:53

in February 2016 were then relayed to

15:56

the jury, as I shall

15:58

describe here, both specifically. dates

16:00

of the offences are not reported.

16:04

In April 2011, Lawrence

16:07

contacted a 54-year-old divorced mother

16:09

of two from Northamptonshire who

16:11

met him via match later

16:13

that month. The

16:15

pair exchanged mobile numbers and

16:17

private email addresses and between April

16:20

and that June went

16:22

on four dates, enjoying drinks at

16:24

country pubs and never sharing more

16:26

than a goodbye kiss on the

16:28

lips, nothing sexual

16:30

whatsoever. However,

16:33

the court heard that their final

16:35

meeting was traumatic. In

16:39

June 2011, the woman

16:41

and Lawrence agreed to meet up for

16:43

a drink near Crick in Northamptonshire. Lawrence

16:46

turned up in a van and taking

16:48

her mobile phone away from her, drove

16:50

her up a track to a field, parked

16:52

up and then lured her into

16:54

the back of the van on the pretense

16:56

of inspecting bunk beds that he said he'd

16:59

built for his children. There,

17:03

she was then raped, despite the

17:05

fact that she was crying and asking

17:07

him to stop, Mr Smith

17:09

told the court. The

17:12

woman's later police interview where she recalled

17:14

her feelings during the attack was then

17:16

played to the court, in

17:18

which she told police there were impressions

17:20

of him before the attack were as

17:23

a solid chap, family minded. She

17:25

continued, I

17:27

thought I was not going to see my kids again. I remember

17:30

thinking I was never going to get out of

17:32

here. He was a well built,

17:35

muscly man and I did not want

17:37

to antagonise him. I was

17:39

just crying and saying, let me

17:41

go, you don't want to do this, let me

17:43

go home now. But he

17:45

didn't listen. He was just hell

17:47

bent, going to do what he came to do.

17:51

He made me feel humiliated,

17:53

disgusted. She

17:56

didn't report him to police at the time, but

17:59

did call her. local police station 18

18:01

months later when he'd messaged her

18:03

under a different username on the

18:06

website. However, nothing

18:08

came of the report. One

18:12

source claims that the same month

18:15

he also sexually assaulted a woman

18:17

in a Tobian car park in

18:19

Leicestershire. It may be something I

18:21

come on to, it may be a bit of

18:23

a misnomer. It's a point of ambiguity that is.

18:28

What is more certain is we skip forward now

18:30

to July 2013 and

18:33

Lawrence meets another woman aged

18:36

54 through match.com. After

18:39

exchanging what was described as

18:41

banter online that evening, Lawrence

18:44

asked if he could drive the 60 miles to

18:46

her home in Spalding in Lincolnshire

18:48

to meet her in person. She

18:51

agreed and Lawrence then asked the

18:53

woman when he was there if he could have

18:55

a bath at her house, which she

18:57

described later as a bit up

19:00

front. And she said the

19:02

pair then went out to enjoy a pub meal

19:04

together before returning to her

19:06

home and drinking more. He

19:09

then asked her if he could stay the

19:11

night and the woman told police she had

19:13

agreed on the condition that he stayed on

19:15

the sofa. In her interview she

19:18

said, I made it

19:20

quite clear I didn't want to

19:22

hold your hand, I'm just your friend. But

19:24

he was quite forceful. He said, we've

19:27

got to be more than friends. The

19:30

woman described how she then went to

19:33

bed, leaving Lawrence on the sofa and

19:35

was awoken during the night by an awful

19:38

weight on top of her saying,

19:42

I realised it was him. I told him,

19:44

no, what are you doing? At

19:47

that point I realised I had my

19:49

pyjama bottoms off. He was

19:51

smothering me and got my arms back and

19:54

told me to be quiet. The

19:56

more I was saying no, the more

19:58

he was aroused. Thankfully,

20:03

the woman's 16-year-old son was asleep

20:05

in a nearby bedroom and

20:07

the woman said she managed to shout

20:09

for him after moving Lawrence's hand off

20:11

her face, continuing, I

20:14

did struggle because he was quite a heavy man.

20:17

I couldn't move his hand off

20:19

my face, but it did slip

20:21

and I was able to shout for my son.

20:26

Lawrence then gathered his clothes and left the

20:28

house, but the following day

20:30

contacted her again through match.com

20:32

with the message, Boo!

20:37

Two kisses. The

20:39

woman told police. I did

20:42

not quite understand it. Was he trying

20:44

to scare me or trying to pretend

20:46

that nothing happened? I don't know.

20:51

He reported this to match.com,

20:53

the charity Women's Aid and

20:55

Lincolnshire Police and as I

20:58

said, Lawrence was arrested, but

21:00

was released on bail after officers said they

21:02

had insufficient evidence to

21:05

charge him. It's

21:07

not quite the same as saying you're

21:09

completely innocent. That is it. Four

21:14

months later in November 2013,

21:17

Lawrence met a third woman,

21:19

a 52-year-old company director, yet

21:22

another Match customer and

21:25

after exchanging texts and phone calls,

21:27

they met at a Costa coffee

21:29

shop near her home in Buxton

21:31

in Derbyshire, where the

21:34

woman recalled Lawrence had made a

21:36

laugh by poking his tongue through

21:38

serviettes, whatever floats your

21:40

boat. They went

21:42

back to her home where Lawrence made

21:44

advances towards her, but he left

21:46

after she said she didn't want to go any

21:48

further on a first date. However,

21:51

the pair did arrange to meet again and

21:54

Lawrence drove to her house to

21:56

stay overnight. There

21:59

they had consensual sex, but

22:02

the next morning she told the cult. Lawrence

22:04

put a finger on her lips, said,

22:07

don't shout, and then raped

22:09

her, despite her hysterical

22:12

screams and pleas. She

22:15

continued, I

22:17

was saying no, no, no, but

22:20

he just would not listen. The frenzy

22:22

he was in, he could have killed me

22:25

and he would not have known it until

22:27

after he'd had his satisfaction. After

22:32

Lawrence had left, he then sent

22:34

her a text message reading, when

22:37

you were crying out for me to stop, I

22:39

couldn't, I'm so mad at myself,

22:42

kiss, kiss, kiss. And

22:45

then another saying, I

22:47

was disgusted with myself for hurting

22:49

you, I'm so sorry, I'm

22:51

too rough for you, five

22:53

kisses. Unbelievably.

22:59

The woman said she was too embarrassed

23:01

to tell police, but told the court

23:03

she had phoned match within 48 hours

23:06

of the incident, demanding that

23:08

Lawrence be banned from there. But

23:11

I quote, I

23:13

asked them to put a notice on the

23:15

system that this is a user that should

23:17

be banned. I didn't want it to happen

23:19

to another woman. They

23:21

didn't seem to give a damn. Now

23:26

I'll explain matches defense of this

23:28

later. The

23:31

woman eventually confided in a

23:33

solicitor friend of hers who

23:35

subsequently contacted police with details

23:37

of the rape for intelligence

23:39

purposes, but without naming her.

23:44

Three months later, in

23:46

February 2014, Lawrence met

23:48

a fourth woman off match, a

23:51

40 year old from Ashbourne in Derbyshire

23:53

at a hotel car park near

23:55

East Midlands Airport. They

23:57

drove together in the woman's car to Brownfield.

24:00

Bradgate Park in Leicestershire where they then went

24:02

for a walk. During

24:04

the walk, Lawrence repeatedly asked her for

24:06

a kiss, but she refused

24:09

because she didn't find him attractive,

24:11

telling him to concentrate his

24:13

efforts on older women. Back

24:17

at the hotel, Lawrence again asked for

24:19

a kiss and became aggressive

24:21

when the woman asked him to go

24:23

away. She told

24:25

the court that he leant over from the passenger seat

24:27

and tried to kiss her, then

24:29

grabbed her right breast over her clothing

24:32

before reaching for her car keys and

24:34

removing them from the ignition. He

24:37

threw them on the floor between her legs, but

24:39

she managed to push him away and he

24:42

then left. On

24:44

the way home, the shaken woman stopped in

24:46

a lay-by to compose herself and

24:49

then called a friend to say what had happened.

24:52

She also subsequently called Match

24:54

to report him, the

24:56

third known woman in eight months

24:58

to do so. Now

25:03

unbelievably, in the midst of all

25:05

that I've described, one

25:07

of the countless women Lawrence had

25:09

contacted over the years was preparing

25:11

to marry him in July 2014.

25:17

His former wife's anonymity is protected,

25:19

she's never been pictured and referred

25:21

to only as Sarah, reverting back

25:23

to her maiden name now, and

25:26

it is not known exactly when Lawrence

25:28

met the then 51-year-old mother of

25:30

one, only that they

25:33

met on match.com and

25:35

married in July 2014. She

25:39

certainly fitted the mould of woman that he went

25:41

after also. Physically

25:43

petite, Sarah had also been

25:45

recently bereaved after her partner

25:47

had been killed in a

25:49

motorcycle accident. and

26:00

Sarah had soon let him move into

26:02

a half a million pound home in

26:04

Lippock in Hampshire, unaware

26:06

that he was also obsessively

26:08

trolling the profiles of hundreds

26:11

of other women and

26:13

unaware that by then he had

26:15

already raped several victims. That

26:20

July then, they got married in

26:22

a lavish ceremony attended by his three

26:24

children and seemingly bursting with

26:26

pride, Lawrence clutches a

26:28

glass of champagne in a wedding

26:31

photograph posted online by a family

26:33

member while his bride smiles happily,

26:36

unaware that she'd married a

26:38

rapist and a serial cheat.

26:40

If you head over to the show's Instagram

26:43

page, I'll post the picture up

26:45

there, you can see exactly what I mean.

26:49

It was later to transpire that

26:51

Lawrence had even been on match.com

26:54

and Dating Direct on the day

26:56

of his wedding and again

26:58

whilst the couple were on honeymoon, and

27:01

within just seven weeks of the wedding,

27:04

he'd secretly made contact with another

27:06

one of his victims on

27:08

Match. Yes,

27:11

this is a piece of work this, isn't it?

27:16

In October 2014, only

27:19

three months after getting married to Sarah,

27:22

Lawrence met a 44-year-old woman

27:24

from Norfolk via the website. They'd

27:27

agreed to meet at a hotel

27:29

in St. Ives in Cambridgeshire after

27:31

connecting on there, and Lawrence booked

27:33

a room where they had consensual

27:35

sex before having a walk and

27:37

a meal together. When

27:40

the woman asked to use the toilet back

27:42

in the hotel room before her drive home

27:44

to Norfolk, upon her returning,

27:47

Lawrence tore off her tights, tied

27:49

her hands behind her back, pinned

27:52

her to the bed and then raped

27:54

her. She later told

27:56

the court, He put

27:58

his knee into my groin area. and slapped

28:00

my face. He tied my hands behind

28:02

my back and bit my lip. I

28:05

kept saying, No, please don't.

28:07

I was crying. He

28:10

bit my breasts and put his hand over

28:12

my mouth. I didn't think

28:14

I would be able to breathe. I

28:16

thought he was going to kill me. The

28:20

woman, who fled when Lawrence went to

28:23

the toilet himself, attended

28:25

a medical centre in Norfolk the

28:27

following day with injuries to her

28:29

neck, her breasts and her waist,

28:32

which were photographed by Stanford, and

28:35

a DNA swab was also taken from

28:37

her. She continued, I

28:40

don't understand how someone can go from

28:42

being so nice and normal and

28:45

then turn into some kind of monster

28:47

within an hour or two. Sadly,

28:52

we know people can, don't we? The

28:56

following month, Lawrence met up with

28:58

a sixth woman in a hotel

29:01

in Oakham, near Rutland, in Leicestershire,

29:03

150 miles away from his

29:05

marital home. The court

29:07

heard that the 48-year-old was new

29:10

to dating and the pair had

29:12

exchanged intimate text messages before agreeing

29:14

to meet at the hotel. However,

29:18

when Lawrence arrived, the woman said

29:20

she wasn't attracted to him and

29:22

realised she'd made a massive

29:24

mistake, but did agree, out

29:27

of politeness, to eat a picnic

29:29

with him and for them to share a

29:31

dance. Later

29:33

though, Lawrence forced her onto

29:35

the hotel bed, tore her

29:37

top off and straddled her, telling

29:39

her, this is what you want. Now

29:44

the woman did manage to escape, but

29:46

did not report him to the police.

29:49

She was later contacted by

29:51

detectives investigating his dating history.

29:54

Mr Smith told the court. One

29:58

thing she remembers most about that ordeal,

30:00

apart from the fear she felt, was

30:03

the sweat coming from him and dripping

30:05

into her eyes, where the

30:07

salt made her eyes sore. Just

30:14

two weeks later, Lawrence's final

30:16

victim was a 49-year-old North

30:18

Derbyshire widow that he'd been

30:20

seeing behind his wife's back,

30:23

a victim he'd first met on

30:25

match.com in April of that year,

30:28

whilst he was making preparations for

30:30

his wedding to Sarah. The

30:33

victim told the court how he briefly called

30:36

off their fling that June, learning

30:38

later that he was secretly preparing

30:40

for his wedding when he'd done

30:42

so. In November 2014,

30:45

she agreed to meet up with him

30:47

at her home during her lunch break,

30:49

and after arriving there, after having

30:52

a cup of tea, and despite her

30:54

protestations that she had a new partner,

30:57

Lawrence said he had

30:59

to love her again. He

31:02

then forced her over a sofa and

31:04

raped her, his victim told

31:07

the court. I

31:09

was pleading with him to stop, saying, don't

31:12

do this, but he said, this

31:14

is going to happen, stop struggling. He

31:17

pushed his weight down on my chest, I

31:19

could not breathe, and I was panicking. He

31:22

said to me, if you promise not to

31:24

struggle, I will let you breathe. I

31:28

decided that I was not going to be able to

31:30

fight him off, so the best

31:32

thing was just to give in. I

31:35

turned my face away and said, get

31:37

on with it then. They've

31:44

all been powerful and disturbing words

31:46

from each victim, granted, but

31:48

I found that this is one

31:50

of the most disturbing and heartbreaking

31:52

accounts I have ever researched and

31:54

written. I really did. That

31:57

someone, that someone's actions can make a

31:59

person. The person decide the best

32:01

course of action for them is

32:04

to give in. Wicked

32:06

beyond belief that is. Just

32:08

terrible. Can you see

32:10

why I've used the term monster now? Mr

32:15

Smith reiterated to the court. Exhausted

32:19

and scared, she decided

32:21

to stop fighting and told him

32:23

in tears to get on with it.

32:29

Even then about the moment straight after

32:31

the attack, Mr Smith continued.

32:34

What did the defendant do? He

32:37

asked her if she was going back to work. She

32:40

asked, do you think I can

32:42

just carry on as normal after what you've done

32:44

to me? His

32:46

response, I couldn't help

32:48

it babe, I had to love you. I

32:51

just couldn't help it babe, I'm sorry. Can

32:54

I see you again? I thought you

32:56

wanted me again. You invited me to

32:58

your house, you were dressed like

33:00

that. Yeah,

33:05

when she told him to go after

33:07

the attack ended, aside from

33:10

Lawrence asking her unbelievably if she was

33:12

just going to go back to work

33:14

that afternoon, he'd even

33:16

asked his victim for another cup of

33:18

tea before leaving as

33:20

though nothing had happened whatsoever. Unbelievable,

33:24

the mind boggles doesn't it? The

33:29

woman told the court that because she was

33:31

in a new relationship then, her

33:34

intention was to carry on as

33:36

nothing had happened, so

33:38

as not to jeopardise this. But

33:41

when two friends called around shortly

33:43

afterwards, she broke down and

33:45

told them what had happened. At

33:49

that point, Lawrence's crimes were

33:51

finally exposed and officers

33:53

began investigating him after Derbyshire police received

33:55

a call from a friend of the

33:57

victim who told them that one of

34:00

her friends had just been raped by him.

34:03

It was then that officers discovered Lawrence

34:05

had previously been arrested for an attempted

34:07

rape in Lincolnshire in 2013 and released

34:11

without charge, and links

34:14

were drawn between these attacks

34:16

and two anonymously reported rapes

34:18

in Derbyshire and Norfolk. Detectives

34:21

then launched Operation Seaboard

34:24

and uncovered what Mr Smith described later

34:26

to a court as a disturbing

34:29

picture. Police

34:31

then trawled through Lawrence's phone

34:33

and match.com profile data, revealing

34:36

three further women who had raised

34:38

concerns about him. Two

34:40

of the women said they were raped by

34:42

a man they identified as Lawrence, whilst

34:45

a third said she was sexually assaulted

34:47

by him. He was

34:49

arrested and charged as a result of this,

34:52

which led him to the dock of Derby

34:54

Crown Court in February 2016. In

35:00

court, Lawrence's sole defence was that

35:02

he was a philandering cheat who

35:04

merely loved sex and that all

35:06

of his victims agreed to consensual

35:09

sex with him, saying when

35:11

he gave evidence, I

35:14

believe it is called play in the field. I

35:17

like ladies and I like sex. That's

35:20

match.com. That's what

35:22

match.com is like. People meet

35:24

and have casual sex, then

35:26

depart. That's how it is. I

35:30

don't think it's quite how it is, is it? But… Asked

35:34

why, if the sex was consensual,

35:37

he hadn't seen one of his

35:39

victims again, Lawrence replied

35:42

She lived too far away and

35:44

I already had a wife. Lawrence

35:48

said that he was the victim of lies

35:50

from the women who had made allegations against

35:52

him. Mr Smith then put

35:54

it to Lawrence that he had a Jekyll

35:57

and Hyde character that he would target

36:00

vulnerable, naive, lonely women, the

36:02

ones least likely to report

36:04

you as indeed they did

36:06

not," and added, "...when

36:09

it's going your way, it's fine. When

36:12

it's not, nasty rapist."

36:16

When Lawrence denied that he had done

36:18

anything wrong, Mr Smith said,

36:21

"...a wicked lie by all seven?

36:24

That's a desperately unlucky coincidence for

36:26

you." He

36:28

must maintain that the women were lying and

36:30

he had been deliberately set

36:33

up, though he couldn't

36:35

explain for what reason this could

36:37

possibly be. In

36:41

a series of victim impact statements read to

36:43

the court by the prosecution, some

36:46

of the women described how they felt after

36:48

the attacks, with many saying they felt sick,

36:51

humiliated and embarrassed. The

36:55

first victim, who was raped in the back of

36:57

Lawrence's van in a field in North Hamptonshire in

36:59

June 2011, said, "...since

37:03

this happened, I've not been able to

37:05

enter into any form of relationship with

37:07

a man. I met someone

37:09

recently, but when he went to hug me at the

37:11

end of the night, I freaked out." The

37:16

second woman attacked by Lawrence, a

37:18

Lincolnshire single mother, said

37:20

she'd been forced to quit her

37:22

job and move home, far away,

37:25

after her attempted rape in her own

37:27

bed. She added, "...because

37:30

what happened to me occurred in the bedroom. I

37:33

couldn't face going back there. I

37:35

could not settle in that house and I

37:37

slept on the sofa. I've

37:39

been left anxious and uneasy. I

37:42

still find meeting men hard as

37:44

I'm apprehensive and my guard

37:46

automatically goes up. I

37:48

have flashbacks and panic attacks about him

37:50

lying on top of me and suffocating

37:53

me." Lawrence's

37:56

third victim, a 52-year-old

37:58

company director, actor who was raped

38:01

in her own home in Buxton said,

38:04

I keep waking up in the night thinking I've

38:06

heard the doorbell ring. I no

38:08

longer trust anyone, mainly men,

38:11

but also females as well. I

38:14

would like a long term partner, but

38:16

have lost all enthusiasm for meeting

38:18

anyone. Lawrence's

38:22

next rape was a 44 year old

38:24

woman he'd forced himself on in a

38:26

hotel in St. Ives in Cambridgeshire, tying

38:29

her up with her own tights in October 2014.

38:31

In her victim impact

38:35

statement she told how she

38:37

constantly felt vulnerable, scared

38:40

and nervous, adding,

38:43

I get shaky and scared when doing

38:45

day to day things like walking the

38:47

dog. I feel worthless and ashamed

38:49

at what he did to me. I

38:51

honestly thought I was going to die. He has

38:54

destroyed my self confidence and self

38:57

respect. I regularly burst into

38:59

tears and rarely get a good night's

39:02

sleep. My life changed forever

39:04

after I was raped. The

39:09

following month Lawrence had violently raped a

39:11

56 year old woman in a hotel

39:13

in Rutland leaving her with injuries. She

39:16

said, I feel constantly

39:18

scared and nervous. I

39:20

felt shame about my daughter seeing the

39:23

marks. And

39:26

Lawrence's final victim, a widow he'd

39:28

raped in her own home after

39:30

their on off relationship ended, said,

39:34

It's difficult to put into words the effect

39:36

this assault has had on my life. I

39:39

feel tainted and spoiled and

39:41

I'm left with a fear of being pinned down.

39:45

My home is no longer the haven

39:47

it was with cherished memories of my

39:49

late husband and children. It

39:52

is now the place where I was

39:54

violated by this man. In

39:58

summing up these statements Prosecutor

40:00

Sean Smith said none of the women

40:03

had wanted to attend court to see

40:05

Lawrence sentenced, instead wishing

40:07

to put this behind them,

40:10

he added. Each

40:12

speaks in eloquent terms of how

40:14

this has affected their relationships with

40:16

men, and trust in men, how

40:19

they have lost self-confidence and how

40:21

they have suffered from anxiety and

40:23

tearfulness. Some have continued

40:25

to suffer fear in their own home and

40:28

fear Lawrence will come and seek them out. Concluding

40:33

his summing up, Mr Smith

40:35

asked the jury at Derby Crown Court,

40:38

Is this a defendant who is a rapist,

40:41

a sexual predator who will not take no

40:43

for an answer, or is

40:45

he some innocent lothario who, as

40:47

he claims, is a man

40:49

who has sexual intercourse with women who

40:52

submit to him and fall for

40:54

his charm? On

40:58

Wednesday 2nd March 2016, following a two-week trial, the jury of six men

41:00

and six women

41:06

found Jason Lawrence guilty of five

41:08

counts of rape, one count

41:10

of attempted rape, and one

41:12

count of sexual assault. Appearing

41:15

back in the dock the following day for

41:17

sentence, Lawrence stood impassive

41:19

as presiding Mr Justice Gregory

41:21

Dickinson case he told him

41:23

as he sentenced Lawrence to

41:26

life imprisonment. I

41:28

am convinced that you are devious,

41:30

manipulative and highly dangerous to women.

41:35

Lawrence was told he must serve at

41:37

least twelve and a half years before

41:40

becoming eligible for parole. He

41:42

was also given lifelong restraining orders

41:44

banning him from contacting any of

41:46

his victims. After

41:49

stressing that this minimum term equated

41:51

only to the earliest stage at

41:53

which Lawrence could be considered for

41:55

release, George Dickinson

41:57

continued, I am

41:59

compelled to the dreadful conclusion that

42:01

you enjoyed raping women. After

42:04

these terrible crimes, you acted as

42:06

if nothing had happened. You have

42:08

shown no remorse, zero appreciation

42:11

of the seriousness of these

42:13

offences, for the pain

42:15

you have inflicted on these ladies, their

42:17

families and their friends. Your

42:20

aim was to get your victims into a

42:22

compromising position and then to do whatever you

42:24

like to them, anticipating they

42:26

would be too frightened or embarrassed to

42:28

make a complaint or that

42:30

they would not be believed if they did come

42:33

forward. There is a

42:35

significant risk to members of the

42:37

public of serious harm occasioned by

42:39

the commissioned by you of further

42:41

offences. That phrase is taken

42:44

from an Act of Parliament. In

42:46

plain English, you are a danger

42:48

to women. Given the chance,

42:50

you will rape again. I do

42:53

not know when it may be safe to

42:55

release you into the community. In

42:57

my judgement, these offences taken

42:59

together, so many victims, the

43:01

trail of terror and agony for which

43:04

you are responsible, mean

43:06

that the imposition of a sentence of

43:08

imprisonment for life is fully justified. A

43:11

sentence of life imprisonment means you

43:13

will not be released unless and

43:16

until the parole board considers that

43:18

it is safe to do so.

43:23

Lawrence was then taken away to begin

43:25

his sentence. It

43:27

was later reported that Lawrence's

43:29

parents and three children were

43:31

devastated by his convictions, but

43:33

was also reported that Sarah

43:36

was standing by him as

43:38

she had done after his arrest. However,

43:42

she had not attended a single day of

43:44

his two week trial and shortly

43:46

afterwards had cut all ties

43:48

to him. To try

43:50

to make a fresh start from the horror

43:52

and betrayal Lawrence had forced upon her, the

43:55

self as much a victim of his as

43:57

any other. Sarah soon reverted to

43:59

his death. to her maiden name, sold

44:02

the home she had shared with a monster

44:04

she had married, and moved

44:06

to a town further across Hampshire.

44:09

Today they are believed to be

44:11

divorced and you would

44:13

hope that Sarah has since been

44:15

able to rebuild her trust and

44:17

find happiness with someone who does

44:19

cherish her, wouldn't you? Following

44:24

the verdict, a former friend of

44:26

Lawrence was quoted as saying, It's

44:29

sickening to think he was about to

44:31

get married and was more concerned with

44:33

finding new victims. He

44:35

even went on to the site on the day

44:37

of his wedding and when he was on honeymoon.

44:40

It's horrific. Sarah obviously

44:42

had no idea. She was

44:45

at home in Hampshire while he

44:47

was meeting and attacking these women

44:49

off match.com. Horrific

44:53

indeed. Detective

44:55

Chief Inspector Alison Rigby later

44:57

praised the victims for their

44:59

bravery for giving evidence, saying,

45:03

Jason Lawrence is a prolific serial

45:05

rapist who preyed on women he

45:07

had contacted through match.com, a sexual

45:09

predator who has preyed on women

45:12

who have got vulnerability. He

45:14

seems to have targeted females who are

45:17

divorced and widowed. These

45:19

women were looking for companionship and

45:22

instead what they found was a

45:24

man who was willing to commit

45:26

serious sexual offences against them. He

45:29

then raped, tried to rape or

45:32

sexually assaulted these women, claiming

45:34

they had consented to it. They

45:37

absolutely did not. Only

45:40

Jason Lawrence will know how many people

45:42

he has sexually assaulted. It is

45:45

possible that there are other people out there.

45:48

The length of the sentence today reflects

45:50

the severity of his crimes and

45:53

I am pleased we have been able to

45:55

achieve justice for the victims. The

45:57

life sentence he has been given means that

46:00

he may never be released. He

46:02

will not be able to apply for parole for nearly

46:04

12 years, and it

46:06

may be that, if he is still deemed

46:08

to be a danger to women, he

46:11

may spend the rest of his life in

46:13

prison. It is important

46:15

to remember that this trial has not

46:17

just been about Jason Lawrence. There are

46:19

7 women who were abused at his

46:22

hands, who had to relive their ordeals

46:24

in front of complete strangers at court.

46:27

I would say they have been very brave in

46:29

the fact they have come forward to give evidence

46:31

and confront him, and I hope

46:34

that the verdict and the substantial sentence

46:36

handed to Jason Lawrence today will bring

46:38

them some comfort and they can move

46:41

forward and start to rebuild their lives.

46:44

This has been a long, complex

46:47

police investigation, and I am

46:49

pleased that at its conclusion we have

46:51

been able to put a dangerous

46:53

sexual predator behind bars. After

46:58

the verdict, Judge Dickinson said

47:00

both match.com and police could

47:02

learn lessons from the case

47:04

after it came to light that

47:07

four of Lawrence's victims had previously

47:09

reported his behaviour to the website,

47:12

but his profile was not removed.

47:15

He said, Is there any

47:17

form of supervision on the use of dating

47:19

sites? I would like to see

47:21

if lessons can be learned about the use of

47:23

these. Now

47:26

as we heard, the court was told that

47:28

four of the women in the accounts I

47:30

described, who were not known to each other,

47:32

had reported the incidents to match.com, and

47:35

it told at least one of these women that

47:37

it was powerless to act because

47:40

Lawrence had not sent abusive messages

47:42

via the site. In

47:45

a statement issued after the hearing, match.com

47:48

said, Having

47:50

worked with the police on this case

47:52

for more than a year, we welcome

47:54

the jury's verdict and today's sentence. We

47:56

are very sorry for those affected and

47:59

appalled by the terrible acts. Sadly

48:02

there is a tiny minority of

48:04

people who set out to harm others.

48:07

While this is not confined to date

48:09

insights or even the internet, those

48:12

who do so should be convicted

48:14

and sentenced, as has happened

48:16

in this case. Our

48:18

members safety is our highest priority.

48:23

The statement added that it had

48:25

been unable to initially remove Lawrence's

48:28

profile following said reports because as

48:30

I said the messages had been

48:32

sent outside their website. It

48:35

reinforced that it was committed to working

48:37

with the dating industry as a whole

48:40

to raise standards and ensure the best

48:42

possible protection and support for its users

48:45

and that members were encouraged to

48:47

communicate within the site where

48:49

much have the technology to

48:52

spot unacceptable behavior. In

48:55

order to try to prevent similar attacks

48:57

the site has reportedly introduced the

49:00

report a profile feature yet

49:03

once again encouraging all users

49:05

to only message on its

49:07

own platforms where this can

49:09

be monitored and regulated. You'd

49:13

hope it would be. Now

49:17

what also stemmed from Lawrence's trial

49:20

or rather the news and publicity

49:23

of it during and after the

49:25

court case was that

49:27

further women now contacted police to

49:29

say they too had been sexually

49:31

assaulted by Lawrence after meeting

49:34

him through match or dating direct.

49:37

Now heading back as far as 2009. As

49:39

a result a

49:43

new investigative team looked into these

49:45

claims and in January 2019 Lawrence

49:49

was charged with seven further

49:52

sexual offenses with two

49:54

further offenses of rape being added

49:56

that May. On

50:00

Monday 15th July 2019, this time at

50:02

Nottingham Crown Court, Lawrence, his address given as

50:09

HMP Nottingham, was

50:12

back on trial, now facing

50:14

charges relating to six more alleged

50:16

victims who had come forward, these

50:19

charges being seven counts of rape,

50:22

one of sexual assault and

50:24

a charge of assault by penetration, which

50:26

the then 54 year old

50:29

denied, claiming once again that all

50:31

sex had was consensual.

50:34

The court heard Lawrence had

50:37

allegedly raped five of the

50:39

women from Leicestershire, Northamptonshire, Buckinghamshire

50:41

and Suffolk and sexually

50:44

assaulted the other, all

50:46

who'd been contacted via match.com

50:48

between 2009 and 2014. Opening the case against Lawrence,

50:54

Clive Stockwell Casey told the

50:57

court of his previous trial,

50:59

saying, "...seven women

51:02

who had subscribed to match.com,

51:04

seven women who had been sexually violated

51:07

by the man they had met via

51:09

that dating site. That

51:11

man was Jason Lawrence. He

51:14

stood trial, denying the allegations that the

51:16

women in that case were making against

51:18

him, but he was convicted of

51:20

the crimes that he committed against them, rape,

51:23

attempted rape and sexual

51:25

assault." Jurors

51:28

were then told how a further

51:30

six alleged victims, now in their

51:32

late 40s and early 50s,

51:34

had come forward following that trial, with

51:37

five of them having seen his name

51:39

in news reports. As Mr

51:42

Stockwell continued, "...as

51:44

you can imagine, those crimes

51:46

were reported. His name was spoken

51:49

of in news reports and on the

51:51

television, his criminality filtering

51:53

out into homes across the

51:55

country. Unfortunately for

51:57

Jason Lawrence, that news

51:59

landed..." with five of the six women you

52:01

had to hear from and about.

52:04

That news gave them the courage to

52:06

come forward, some reporting

52:09

immediately, some after time had

52:11

passed, but reporting they

52:13

did. Rape

52:15

necessarily involves the exploitation

52:17

of vulnerability, vulnerability

52:20

exploited to satisfy a selfish

52:22

sexual need. During

52:25

this trial, you will hear of

52:27

the cruelty suffered by vulnerable women, all

52:30

exploited to satisfy a selfish

52:32

sexual need. The

52:35

selfish sexual needs of

52:37

Jason Lawrence. As

52:41

well as testimonies from several of the victims, the

52:44

jury at Nottingham Crown Court was shown

52:46

video recordings of police interviews from

52:49

three of the women who described

52:51

meeting Lawrence and alleged

52:53

being attacked by him in Leicestershire, Northamptonshire and

52:55

Buckinghamshire in 2009, 2011 and 2012. Soon

53:04

after Lawrence joined match.com in

53:06

early 2009, he'd

53:09

raped his first victim. He

53:12

and the 46-year-old woman had initially

53:14

begun to have consensual sex in

53:16

a car after driving to

53:19

a place named Bluebell Wood in

53:21

Dingley Dell near Market Harbour in

53:23

Leicestershire. But Lawrence had then

53:25

took off his belt and put it around

53:27

her neck. She told the

53:30

court how while having sex in his car, he

53:33

had then started tightening it because it

53:35

would help him finish, he

53:37

claimed. She had begged

53:39

him to stop, but he carried on ignoring

53:42

her pleas until she eventually

53:44

burst into tears. Speaking

53:48

about their first meeting, one

53:50

of the women, aged 48 and

53:53

from Northampton, said Lawrence had

53:55

texted her one day in late 2012 saying

53:58

he was at a building site in the city. in the area and

54:02

was very pushy about coming around

54:04

and using her bathroom. She

54:07

had allowed him around and said that he

54:09

had forced himself on her sofa

54:12

and had raped her, telling

54:14

police that once Lawrence had finished

54:16

raping her he had

54:18

calmly showered upstairs

54:20

before leaving. She

54:23

recalled, I said,

54:25

no I don't want this and he said,

54:28

shut up, it's going to happen anyway.

54:32

I felt really ashamed, I felt stupid,

54:34

I let a stranger in my

54:36

house. Another

54:40

woman told police she met Lawrence for

54:42

three dates earlier in 2012 before inviting

54:45

him to her house. The

54:48

52 year old said Lawrence was

54:50

insistent on going upstairs for a

54:52

kiss and a cuddle but

54:54

she refused. Then when

54:57

she went upstairs she said he

54:59

followed her pushing her onto the bed before

55:01

raping her saying, I always

55:05

thought I was strong but I couldn't budge

55:07

him, he was like a dead weight. He

55:10

left very soon afterwards as if it was

55:12

all quite normal it seemed as

55:15

if he thought it was all okay.

55:18

I told myself it was silly of me to

55:20

let him into my house so

55:22

it was partly my fault, she

55:25

said. The

55:29

jury also heard from a woman who said

55:31

Lawrence had pinned her down in his car

55:33

after a date in Leicestershire in 2011 so

55:35

she had begged him

55:38

to stop and told him she

55:40

was on her period in order to deter

55:42

him. She said, he

55:45

put his full weight onto me,

55:47

I was completely and utterly overwhelmed,

55:50

I was petrified, I thought I

55:52

was going to get raped but I think

55:54

because I was on my period he didn't.

55:58

The prosecution said he had ripped out

56:00

her tampon but then he had stopped,

56:03

obviously changing his mind and

56:06

she was able to get free from him. She

56:09

eventually got out of his car and

56:11

ran away barefoot but did

56:13

not report the incident until 4

56:15

years later. In

56:19

January 2014, Lawrence took a 49

56:22

year old woman out for a drink before

56:24

he then drove her to a car

56:26

park in Breadgate Park in Leicestershire. They

56:29

started having sex in the back of his

56:31

van but she claimed she tried

56:33

to push him off after telling him she

56:35

did not want to have sex without a

56:37

condom. He then ignored

56:40

this and started having sex with her again

56:42

despite her saying, Get off. She

56:46

told the court she could not remember if

56:48

she said the words No or Stop but

56:51

said it would have been clear she was

56:53

not consenting as Lawrence said Not

56:56

long now and Good girl

56:58

during the second rape. It

57:01

was never consensual she stressed

57:04

to the court. The

57:07

account that caused the most print space

57:10

from this second trial however was

57:12

the tale of a Suffolk woman who

57:14

said she became pregnant by Lawrence after

57:16

she slept with him in July 2014

57:20

after he had lied to her about

57:22

having a vasectomy. Mr

57:25

Stockwell told the court. Both

57:28

had sex in mind but, brackets

57:30

the alleged victim, was

57:32

keen to ensure that some protection was

57:34

in place. She checked with

57:36

him that he had had a vasectomy and he

57:39

confirmed that he had. But

57:41

simply she was telling him, Yes

57:43

I will have sex with you if

57:46

you are telling me that you have a vasectomy.

57:49

It was a clear condition, a

57:51

condition that she was perfectly entitled

57:53

to insist upon. The

57:57

woman told the rape trial how Lawrence

57:59

previously told her in a

58:01

text message before they met that

58:04

he'd undergone the snip in a

58:06

discussion about contraception and the

58:08

woman checked with him again in person when

58:10

they subsequently met up for sex and

58:13

said Lawrence had made the same

58:15

claim shortly before they slept together.

58:19

Having reassured her once more that he

58:21

was infertile, they had

58:23

sexual intercourse twice without any

58:25

contraception and Lawrence left in

58:27

the middle of the night. The

58:30

next day however, he text messaged

58:32

her to say, I have

58:35

a confession, I'm still

58:37

fertile. Sorry, kiss

58:39

kiss kiss. The

58:42

woman told the court she later discovered

58:44

that she was pregnant from this tryst

58:47

and took emergency contraception

58:49

but this didn't work so

58:52

she later underwent a termination.

58:55

She told Nottingham Crown Court, I

58:58

was absolutely gobsmacked that anybody could

59:00

do such a thing. Mr

59:04

Stockwell asked her, would

59:06

you have had sexual intercourse with him if

59:08

he had not had a vasectomy? The

59:11

woman replied, absolutely

59:13

not unless he had

59:15

other protection. Mr

59:17

Stockwell told Jorahs this was clear

59:20

evidence that Jason Lawrence knew he

59:22

had blatantly lied to and deceived

59:24

the woman. His deception

59:27

robbed her of her freedom of choice, her

59:30

consent was obtained by a deception.

59:32

That, we submit, is

59:35

not true consent. Now

59:37

an application to dismiss this charge

59:40

was made prior to his arraignment.

59:42

It was submitted on Lawrence's behalf

59:44

that a lie told about a

59:47

person's fertility could not, as a

59:49

matter of law, vitiate consent. In

59:52

particular, it was submitted that not

59:55

all deceptions leading to an individual

59:57

consent into sexual intercourse as to

1:00:00

negate consent and it

1:00:03

was said that the deceit was so

1:00:05

closely connected with the Sexual Act. In

1:00:08

this particular case the deceit

1:00:10

went to the consequences of the Sexual

1:00:12

Act that is the risk

1:00:15

of pregnancy. I

1:00:18

shall come back to this particular account

1:00:20

shortly. This

1:00:22

time Jason Lawrence opted not to

1:00:24

give evidence in his own defence.

1:00:27

Mr Stockwell duly finished his case by

1:00:29

saying either all the women who had

1:00:31

come forward were wicked liars

1:00:34

willing to deceive the court,

1:00:36

the police and in some

1:00:38

cases their own partners with

1:00:41

no clear motive or

1:00:43

that Lawrence, already a

1:00:45

convicted rapist, was

1:00:47

guilty. He also

1:00:49

suggested that Lawrence had refused to

1:00:51

give evidence purely for the reason

1:00:53

he wanted to stay

1:00:55

in control. Lawrence's

1:00:58

counsel David Emmanuel Casey had

1:01:00

argued that perhaps the women

1:01:02

had reinterpreted what

1:01:04

happened to them after seeing he was

1:01:07

a rapist because they had regretted what

1:01:09

might have been awful

1:01:11

sex with a large sweaty

1:01:13

man. He pointed

1:01:15

to inconsistencies in their accounts and

1:01:18

asked the jury if they could be sure of

1:01:20

what had happened, giving pieces of

1:01:22

evidence such as text messages had

1:01:25

gone missing over the years since the

1:01:27

alleged offences. Mr

1:01:29

Emmanuel had said he

1:01:31

might, just might be

1:01:34

not guilty. On

1:01:37

the 31st of July 2019

1:01:40

the jury panel, again of

1:01:42

6 men and 6 women

1:01:44

at Nottingham Crown Court, found

1:01:46

Jason Lawrence guilty of 7 charges,

1:01:50

unanimously guilty on 5 charges of rape,

1:01:52

1 charge of sexual

1:01:54

assault and a further charge

1:01:57

of assault by penetration, though

1:01:59

they did find him not guilty on two

1:02:01

of the charges of rape, relating

1:02:03

to one of the accounts from January 2014 and one from

1:02:05

early in 2012. Lawrence

1:02:12

said nothing and appeared emotionless

1:02:14

as jurors delivered the latest

1:02:16

verdicts before he was remanded

1:02:19

back into custody by presiding

1:02:21

Mr Justice Jeremy Baker Casey

1:02:24

ahead of sentencing at the same court

1:02:26

on 3rd October. But

1:02:30

in September 2019 ahead

1:02:32

of this sentencing it

1:02:34

was reported that Lawrence was appealing

1:02:36

against the convictions of rape after

1:02:39

lying about having had a vasectomy

1:02:41

which were thought to be the first

1:02:44

of their kind and that could have

1:02:46

wider implications for others who deceived sexual

1:02:48

partners. The Sexual

1:02:51

Offences Act 2003 says a person

1:02:53

commits rape if the other person

1:02:56

does not consent to the penetration

1:02:58

or they do not reasonably

1:03:01

believe the person consents. Section

1:03:05

74 of the act specifies that

1:03:07

a person consents if he or

1:03:09

she agrees by choice

1:03:11

and has the freedom and capacity

1:03:14

to make that choice. Now

1:03:17

at trial Mr Stockwell prosecuting Lawrence

1:03:20

had told jurors that because he deceived

1:03:22

the woman this had, I quote,

1:03:25

robbed her of her freedom of choice, her

1:03:28

consent was obtained by deception, that,

1:03:30

we submit, is not

1:03:32

true consent. However,

1:03:35

Lawrence's defence barrister David

1:03:37

Immanuel had argued that classing

1:03:39

it as rape was taking it

1:03:42

too firm saying, the

1:03:44

big question is, can a

1:03:47

lie turn consensual sex into

1:03:49

non-consensual? This is why

1:03:52

this case is like no others. We

1:03:54

had a note from a member of the jury

1:03:56

asking, is lying about the

1:03:58

snip, classed as rape? rape? You

1:04:01

have absolutely hit the nail on the head.

1:04:04

The answer is, it is up

1:04:06

to you. The

1:04:08

jury decided that it was rape

1:04:11

and subsequently found Lawrence guilty of

1:04:13

those two charges. Now

1:04:16

it was solely these two convictions

1:04:18

that were being appealed, not his

1:04:20

other offences. After all,

1:04:22

these two convictions were overshadowed by

1:04:25

the fact Lawrence is a serial

1:04:27

rapist who has attacked numerous women.

1:04:31

His solicitor, Sean Draycott said,

1:04:34

Following the convictions recorded in this case,

1:04:36

an application for leave to appeal has

1:04:38

been lodged with the Court of Appeal

1:04:41

and there is optimism with regard to

1:04:43

its prospect of success. If

1:04:46

these convictions are upheld on appeal, the

1:04:48

concern is that members of the public,

1:04:51

both male and female, who have

1:04:53

never been considered criminals in the eyes

1:04:55

of the law, will be

1:04:57

at risk of prosecution for

1:04:59

serious sexual offences. Now

1:05:02

incidentally following this appeal, on the 23rd of

1:05:04

July 2020, Lawrence's two convictions about

1:05:09

vasectomy were quashed by the Court

1:05:11

of Appeal. After Lord

1:05:13

Chief Justice for England and Wales,

1:05:15

Lord Burnet of Maldon, sitting

1:05:18

with Mrs Justice Cuts and

1:05:20

Mrs Justice Tipalls, ruled

1:05:22

they were unsafe. Their judgement

1:05:24

said, In terms of Section

1:05:26

74 of the 2003

1:05:29

Act, the complainant was not deprived

1:05:31

by the Appellant's lie of the

1:05:33

freedom to choose whether to have

1:05:35

the sexual intercourse which occurred. Now,

1:05:39

understandably it is a bit of a

1:05:41

grave sounding area isn't it, but it

1:05:44

is a somewhat slap in the face for

1:05:46

that woman isn't it? By

1:05:50

this time of course, Lawrence was a

1:05:52

couple of years into serving his life

1:05:55

sentence, though on the 3rd of October

1:05:57

of the previous year at Nottingham Crown

1:05:59

Court, back to 2019,

1:06:02

he had collected in effect just a further

1:06:04

3.5 years for the crimes we heard from

1:06:09

his second trial. He

1:06:11

had again been sentenced to life

1:06:14

imprisonment, granted, but this was

1:06:16

to run concurrently with his earlier sentence,

1:06:19

and was that day told that his

1:06:21

minimum jail term would increase from 12.5

1:06:24

years to 15. Extending

1:06:28

Lawrence's prison term, Mr

1:06:30

Justice Jeremy Baker said, I

1:06:33

have had the benefit of reading the sentencing

1:06:35

remarks from the earlier hearing in 2016, from

1:06:39

which it is apparent that you were

1:06:41

sentenced for what was in effect a

1:06:43

campaign of rape and other sexual offences,

1:06:46

committed against women who met you

1:06:48

over a dating website known as

1:06:50

match.com. Following your conviction

1:06:53

for these offences, I acceded

1:06:55

to an application to adjourn the

1:06:57

sentencing exercise on you, in

1:06:59

order that the court could be furnished

1:07:02

with a pre-sentence report. The

1:07:04

court now has that report, which

1:07:07

makes for both disturbing and depressing

1:07:09

reading. In

1:07:11

reality, the offences for which

1:07:13

this court has to sentence you form

1:07:15

part of that campaign of rape, as

1:07:18

each of the women you

1:07:20

raped or otherwise sexually abused

1:07:23

were also mature, intelligent individuals

1:07:25

who were looking for companionship

1:07:27

and intimacy, whilst

1:07:29

the only thing you were looking

1:07:31

for was sexual gratification. Essentially,

1:07:34

you continue to maintain your

1:07:36

denial of these offences, and

1:07:39

in reality exhibit a lack of

1:07:41

any significant insight into

1:07:43

the very serious detrimental effect

1:07:45

that these offences have had

1:07:47

upon your victims." Lawrence

1:07:52

was then taken back to HMP

1:07:54

Nottingham to continue his life sentence.

1:07:57

Jason Lawrence remains in prison to date.

1:08:00

today, his earliest possible release date being

1:08:02

2031, when he will be 66 years old. In

1:08:09

a statement following Lawrence's second set

1:08:11

of convictions, a

1:08:13

match.com spokesperson said, At

1:08:16

Match, member safety is

1:08:18

our primary priority. We

1:08:21

were appalled by the terrible acts

1:08:23

committed by Jason Lawrence, and

1:08:25

commend the individuals for their courage

1:08:27

in reporting these to the authorities.

1:08:31

We have supported the police throughout

1:08:33

both investigations and welcomed the

1:08:35

jury's verdicts, as we

1:08:37

now welcome the judge's delivery of

1:08:39

this fit and proper punishment. Match

1:08:43

has a zero-tolerance policy for

1:08:45

reports of serious offences, and

1:08:47

we encourage anyone who has felt

1:08:49

exposed to unsafe behaviour, whether

1:08:52

through our services or anywhere else,

1:08:55

to speak to the police. A

1:09:01

monstrous individual indeed this is, and

1:09:03

if online dating had been a

1:09:05

place, he would have made

1:09:07

this series monsters of episode. Although

1:09:10

the shy talk we met in that one

1:09:12

was terrible enough, I'm sure you'll agree. I'm

1:09:16

not a fan of dating sites personally,

1:09:18

as I've explained in the Patreon episode,

1:09:20

I find it quite sad really, that

1:09:22

you can today, dismiss or

1:09:24

accept a person into or from your

1:09:26

life purely by swiping left

1:09:28

or right on your phone. The

1:09:31

old romantic in me says, where's

1:09:33

the serendipity gone, where's the art

1:09:35

of conversation, the attraction and someone

1:09:37

catching your eye by chance, where's

1:09:39

all that buggered off to? Now

1:09:42

I'm sure I'm not alone thinking this, but

1:09:45

the account of Lawrence I've just brought

1:09:47

you highlights just what a danger these

1:09:49

sites can be. And

1:09:51

of course, not just to women either,

1:09:54

as the cases of Stephen Port

1:09:56

or Reynad Sinaga show. Sadly,

1:10:00

I think that for whatever preventative

1:10:02

steps such as match takes to

1:10:04

ensure that if someone is complained

1:10:07

about in the way that

1:10:09

several of Lawrence's victims had done, for

1:10:11

whatever steps they take to ensure

1:10:13

that the IP address the said

1:10:15

profile is registered from is traced,

1:10:18

and this in complaint such as detailed

1:10:20

are passed on to police, a

1:10:23

predator such as Lawrence will always find

1:10:25

a way around this. Using

1:10:27

a different computer, registering another

1:10:30

faceless profile and carrying

1:10:32

on the same horrific campaign until

1:10:35

they are caught and stopped. It's

1:10:37

a steady stream of potential victims

1:10:40

for such individuals. Now

1:10:44

following his first trial several more

1:10:46

victims of his came forward. The

1:10:48

first of these being attacked dating

1:10:50

back to 2009, a full

1:10:52

5 years before he was

1:10:54

finally arrested and charged. Now

1:10:57

the attacks he was convicted of took place in

1:10:59

the years between 2009 and 2014, but sadly I

1:11:01

believe that such a prolific user of dating sites

1:11:04

as Lawrence, completely

1:11:11

and purely motivated by sex

1:11:14

with absolutely zero respect for

1:11:16

women, will have attacked

1:11:18

countless more of them, thinking

1:11:20

purely of himself and indeed

1:11:22

believing that dating sites were

1:11:25

a playground for him to

1:11:27

gain sexual gratification, nothing

1:11:29

beyond that. He had

1:11:31

reportedly contacted thousands of women off these

1:11:34

sites and was willing to travel up

1:11:36

to 150 miles from

1:11:38

his home for dress, so

1:11:40

for someone so prolific, so

1:11:43

motivated by this, that even his wedding

1:11:45

date and honeymoon don't dissuade him from

1:11:47

looking on them, then I'm

1:11:49

sure there are scores more women across

1:11:52

the UK that Lawrence has raped or

1:11:54

assaulted, who haven't been able to find

1:11:56

that strength in themselves to come forward,

1:11:59

or... who have instead perhaps chosen to

1:12:01

bury it and just to move on

1:12:04

with their lives, not wanting to pick

1:12:06

off a scar that took so much time

1:12:08

to heal. Perhaps even

1:12:11

some who have sadly passed away today

1:12:13

so that their stories may never be

1:12:15

heard or perhaps accounts that

1:12:17

will come at a future date. I

1:12:20

doubt personally if Lawrence himself could even

1:12:22

remember fully the scope of his offending,

1:12:25

but I'm even more certain that if he

1:12:27

does, then he doesn't care one iota

1:12:29

for the many lives he's blighted. I

1:12:32

don't want to say ruined because a beast

1:12:34

like this shouldn't get the chance to ruin.

1:12:38

Any pity or remorse he will feel will

1:12:40

be purely for himself, chafing

1:12:43

at the fact that he

1:12:45

is now deservedly locked away,

1:12:47

hopefully for a sentence

1:12:49

that for him does mean life. I

1:12:52

hope he has never released

1:12:54

a despicable, selfish, predatory individual.

1:12:59

Think not of him following this though,

1:13:01

let that bastard rot where he is,

1:13:04

but instead think of the

1:13:06

bravery of the women who came forward and

1:13:08

had to undergo the ordeal of a trial,

1:13:10

but in doing so, whose accounts

1:13:13

put a monster like Lawrence away

1:13:15

for life. Well done

1:13:17

to them. Now,

1:13:21

and I have mentioned this in the patreon

1:13:23

episode and I'll recap here, even

1:13:25

with the very real risk of

1:13:28

coming across predators such as Lawrence

1:13:30

or Stephen Port or Reynard Synaga

1:13:32

to name just a couple, these

1:13:35

sights are still more popular than

1:13:37

anything, so if anyone listening

1:13:39

is using them or thinking of doing so,

1:13:41

dipping your toe in for a first couple

1:13:43

of dates, then I mean this

1:13:45

without enough front to your own common sense

1:13:47

and natural caution, but please

1:13:49

bear in mind the following few tips

1:13:52

to stay safe whilst doing so. Check

1:13:55

as much as you can your potential date

1:13:57

out, make sure they are who they are.

1:14:00

say they are. Try and see

1:14:02

different photos to confirm that this is the

1:14:04

person. If they are genuine, they

1:14:06

have nothing to hide whatsoever and

1:14:09

even then, keep it on the

1:14:11

dating app for a while until you're sure

1:14:13

you want to move forward. Avoid

1:14:16

giving them too many personal details.

1:14:19

Categorically, do not give your address

1:14:21

and be wary about

1:14:23

sending them any photos. Be

1:14:26

open with friends about who you are

1:14:28

talking to, get their opinions about the

1:14:31

person and always take note and

1:14:33

bear in mind any opinions that they

1:14:35

have about them. Take

1:14:37

note of any potential red flags

1:14:39

such as a date, putting off

1:14:41

meeting, pressuring you for intimate photos,

1:14:44

asking you for money or trying to

1:14:46

get you around to theirs from the

1:14:49

off. Now

1:14:51

if you do make it past these points and

1:14:53

you agree to a date, then for the date,

1:14:56

choose somewhere public and if possible and

1:14:58

you're comfortable with doing so, somewhere

1:15:01

that you're familiar with and perhaps you

1:15:03

know the staff there or you

1:15:05

may very likely see friends of yours

1:15:07

there. Also, arrange your

1:15:09

own transport there and home. Let

1:15:13

a couple of friends know when, where and

1:15:15

who you're on a date with. Pass

1:15:17

them a picture of the date and their

1:15:20

number also and wherever details you

1:15:22

can also glean, maybe the car

1:15:24

registration or something like that. Send

1:15:27

a quick message to friends during a loo

1:15:29

break saying how it's going and if

1:15:32

so, continue to give regular updates

1:15:34

to them throughout the date. Make

1:15:37

sure that you get your own drink

1:15:39

first to watch it being poured. Don't

1:15:42

be accepting a drink that your date has

1:15:44

waiting for you if they've arrived ahead of

1:15:46

you and watch the amount of

1:15:48

alcohol that you drink. Never

1:15:51

leave any personal possessions unattended while you

1:15:53

go to the loo also. Hopefully

1:15:57

with all these points born in mind, you'll have

1:15:59

a pleasant date, perhaps the first of

1:16:01

many that may lead to a healthy

1:16:03

and happy relationship. However,

1:16:07

if after all this the date still

1:16:09

does get a bit weird, or you

1:16:11

get bad vibes, your spidey sense goes

1:16:13

mental and you feel the need to

1:16:15

extract yourself from the situation, then

1:16:18

today most bars or restaurants or

1:16:20

places where people go for a date will

1:16:23

have services such as Ask for

1:16:25

Angela that can help. Now

1:16:27

if you don't know what this is,

1:16:29

there's a link explaining it much better

1:16:31

than I ever can in the episode

1:16:34

show notes, it's a fantastic service that

1:16:36

will help out if things are becoming

1:16:38

weird or uncomfortable. Please

1:16:40

familiarise yourself with things like this

1:16:43

and never be afraid to take advantage of

1:16:45

them, that's what they're for. Now

1:16:49

all I can do is stress again that the

1:16:51

points I've mentioned aren't meant to be enough front

1:16:53

to people's common sense at all, it's

1:16:55

just me expressing how safe I would

1:16:58

want anyone listening to be, in

1:17:00

such a situation, that's all it is.

1:17:03

Be safe out there folks, you're all

1:17:05

too important not to be. I

1:17:08

will say also that if anyone listening

1:17:11

has been a victim of assaults such

1:17:13

as mentioned, or any form of sexual

1:17:15

violence or domestic violence and isn't sure

1:17:18

about reporting it for whatever reason, thinking

1:17:21

categorically wrongly that it's

1:17:23

your fault or no one will believe

1:17:25

you, then please it is

1:17:28

never your fault, never. And

1:17:31

there is always someone who will listen that

1:17:33

always is, I can't stress that enough and

1:17:35

a list of contact numbers and organisations

1:17:38

who can help or listen will

1:17:40

be contained within the episode show notes.

1:17:45

I would love as always hearing your

1:17:47

thoughts and feedback on the tale Monster

1:17:49

On Match, which you can do

1:17:51

so in the episode thread that is now

1:17:53

up in the show's Facebook discussion group or

1:17:56

through any of the show's social media links.

1:18:00

me aloof and I will always get back to

1:18:02

you. With that I

1:18:04

shall wrap up and shut up here

1:18:06

now then and it's on to the

1:18:08

next chapter of darkness for we are

1:18:10

rapidly approaching the end of another series,

1:18:13

Tempest Fugit and all that, so

1:18:16

I will try to bring out some blinding

1:18:18

tales before I sit down and do this

1:18:20

years recap. All that

1:18:22

remains is for me to say then that

1:18:25

I've been, I still am and hopefully still

1:18:27

will be Paul the true crime enthusiast wishing

1:18:30

you all good and safe times and I

1:18:32

shall speak to you very soon. Take

1:18:34

care all, stay safe, thanks very

1:18:36

much for joining me and

1:18:38

goodbye for now. Reimagine

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