Update: To be released June 2020. An exclusion zone has been added to his sexual offences prevention order which prohibits him from entering most parts of Nuneaton

April 2013

Dangerous Nuneaton rapist loses appeal court challenge

A dangerous rapist who subjected a teenage girl to a horrific sex attack before robbing her friends has been told by top judges he deserved to be jailed indefinitely.

Oliver Taylor brutally raped and sexually assaulted the 17-year-old girl and attacked her two 18-year-old male friends after following them as they left a pub.

The 23-year-old, formerly of Nuneaton, was handed an open-ended sentence for public protection – which is almost identical to a life sentence – at the crown court in Leamington last June.

He was ordered to serve at least six-and-a-half years behind bars, before even being considered for release, after being convicted of sexual assault, two counts of rape, two of assault by beating and two of robbery.

Taylor challenged his sentence, with his lawyers arguing there was not enough evidence for the crown court judge to conclude he was a ‘danger’ to the public.

But his appeal was dismissed by three of the country’s most senior judges, who said the indefinite sentence was ‘amply justified’.

Taylor followed his victims as they left the King William pub, in Coton Road, during the early hours of an autumn morning last year.

When they became aware they were being followed, the three started to run away but the girl had to stop when her shoelace came undone.

Mr Justice Edwards-Stuart, sitting with Lord Justice Aikens and Mr Justice Irwin, told the court Taylor then ‘reduced her to a state of complete terror’, raping and sexually assaulting her in a secluded side road, before threatening to kill her if she told anyone what had happened.

When her friends returned to look for her, Taylor turned on them – attacking them and stealing £5 and a mobile phone.

He was arrested nearby shortly after the incident.

The court heard the girl was ‘devastated’ by what had happened to her and may never recover from the ordeal.

The judge who sentenced Taylor said his behaviour during his trial was worrying and his arrogance and contempt for the girl ‘alarming’.

Taylor, who had previous convictions for burglary and theft, challenged his sentence – with his lawyers arguing there was insufficient evidence for the judge to conclude he was ‘dangerous’.

But, dismissing the appeal, Mr Justice Edwards-Stuart said: “There is, in our judgment, no question but that the finding that the appellant is dangerous was one which the learned judge was wholly entitled to make.

“The sentence was what he deserved.”

Taylor will not be released from prison until the Parole Board is satisfied he no longer poses a danger to the public.

June 2012

Nuneaton man jailed for 13 years for ‘horrific’ rape and assault

A 22-year-old man has been jailed for 13 years after raping a teenage girl and assaulting and robbing two of her male friends in a secluded side road near Nuneaton town centre.

Oliver Taylor pounced in Rose Lane in the early hours last October in what police called “an horrific and terrifying attack”.

He was sentenced at the Crown Court in Leamington yesterday and told he will serve at least six-and-a-half years in prison. He will not be released without the permission of the parole board and the Home Secretary.

Taylor, who lived in Lydgate Court, yards from the crime scene, had pleaded guilty to two assaults and one robbery but, following a two-week trial, he was found guilty of two counts of rape, a sexual assault, two robberies and two assaults.

The jury heard how Taylor raped and sexually assaulted the 17-year-old girl and subsequently robbed her two 18-year-old male friends, after pursuing them along the route they were taking home from the King William pub in Coton Road.

The rape occurred after the girl became separated from her friends at approximately 3.20am. Taylor then assaulted and robbed the two youths of a mobile phone and a small amount of cash after they disturbed his attack on the girl.

He was arrested shortly after the incident and was remanded in custody when he first appeared before Nuneaton magistrates in October.

After the sentence, Det Sgt Paul Thompson said, “I cannot begin to imagine what it must have been like for the terrified victims in this case – it must have been absolutely horrific.

“I am delighted that Taylor will be spending the foreseeable future behind bars and no longer in a position to commit such terrible crimes.

“He is a dangerous individual who held no regard for the victims on the evening in question, nor during the trial.

“He has shown no remorse.”

The police officer added: “I would like to pay tribute to the victims and witnesses in this case who have all bravely given evidence at the trial under extremely distressing circumstances.

“In the eyes of the victims and their families no prison sentence will probably ever seem enough, but I hope they can start rebuilding their lives safe in the knowledge Taylor is behind bars.

“Stranger rape is not a common occurrence and I hope that the public will feel reassured that Warwickshire Police will investigate such offences robustly and bring offenders to justice.”