'Predatory' rapist, 22, who carried out string of sex attacks is jailed for life

Constantin Covaliu, a sexual predator who has been jailed for life for targeting two women and a girl in violent, opportunistic attacks in Nottingham and Mansfield.
Constantin Covaliu targeted two women and a teenage girl, all of whom were strangers, over a four-month period. (Nottinghamshire Police/SWNS) (Nottinghamshire Police/SWNS)

A rapist who carried out a string of violent and opportunistic sex attacks on two women and a teenage girl has been jailed for life.

Constantin Covaliu, 22, targeted his victims, who were all strangers, in Nottingham and Mansfield over the period of four months.

The sexual predator followed a 17-year-old girl when she got separated from friends during a night out on 31 October last year, Northampton Crown Court court heard.

He befriended the teenager and took her back to a property in Mansfield where he snatched her mobile phone and then raped her in an upstairs bedroom.

During another attack, he grabbed a 21-year-old woman from behind as she walked home alone in Mansfield, on 20 November last year.

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He attempted to rape her but stopped and fled the scene when she tried to get help from a passing taxi driver.

Four months earlier, Covaliu had attacked his first victim, a 53-year-old woman, after he attended a house party in the building in which she lives.

He had entered her flat twice earlier in the evening and was told by the victim to get out, but on the third occasion he forced his way in and tried to rape her.

She was eventually able to fight him off and called for help after locking herself in the property’s communal bathroom at around 2.30am on July 24 last year.

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Covaliu, of Mansfield, was jailed on 9 September. He previously pleaded guilty to two counts of rape, one of attempted rape and one of sexual assault on the day his trial was due to begin.

Nottinghamshire Police's Detective Sergeant Neil Allsop said: “Covaliu is a predatory sex offender who targeted victims in their own home, while alone in the street and after luring them to a place of danger.

“He only pleaded guilty as his trial was due to begin – causing needless additional distress to his victims.

“He has rightly been handed a life sentence and I hope this gives his victims some closure after what has been a harrowing time for them and their families since the shocking events took place."

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