A sexual predator has been sentenced to life imprisonment for the rape and attempted rape of two women in Warrington.
Mariyan Grudev, formerly of Thelwall Lane, Latchford, Warrington, was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 14 years at Liverpool Crown Court, today, February 6 after previously pleading guilty to one count of attempted rape.
The 39-year-old Bulgarian was also found guilty of one count of rape after a trial in July 2024.
On Saturday 29 July 2023, at around 3.10am, a woman was walking along Winwick Road when a man, who was unknown to the woman, began following her.
He then grabbed her from behind and attempted to drag her into bushes. Thankfully, the woman escaped unharmed and sought help from a passing taxi driver.
A media appeal was subsequently issued by Cheshire Police using a CCTV image of the suspect. He was later confirmed to be Grudev, who was arrested on Sunday 30 July 2023, and later charged with attempted rape on Tuesday 1 August 2023.
In the early hours of July 29, 2023 a 19-year-old woman was followed by Grudev as she was walking along Winwick Road, Warrington and after putting his hand over her mouth he tried to drag her into bushes to rape her, said Eve Salter, prosecuting.
She bravely fought him off – “her adrenaline rising through the roof” -and ran off for help. She arrived in hysterics at a Tesco store and a taxi driver rang the police.
Grudev was identified by a former work colleague after police issued CCTV images and arrested. “His mobile phone was seized and his internet search history showed in the hours leading up to the offence he had repeatedly visited pornography and escort web sites,” said Miss Salter.
“A proper inference is he left home in a state of high sexual arousal intending to obtain sexual gratification.”
In an impact statement the rape victim told how she still suffers from panic attacks, is hyper vigilant and had nearly given up her career because of the psychological impact on her.
She then turned directly to Grudev in court and told him, “You are a complete and utter coward, who clearly displays no empathy for others or responsibility for your actions.
“The arrogance you have shown throughout this process demonstrates how little you think of women, and how to you their only purpose is to be victims of your depraved and twisted sexual gratification.
“It is clear the only way you can feel significant in this world is to have control and power over women at their most vulnerable.
“However, I stand here today to tell you that while for a small time you had power over me, you no longer do so. You are a paragraph in one small chapter of my life, a life that is full and happy and is something you could never take away from me.”
Following these charges, he was investigated as a suspect in a previous similar incident in Warrington. This occurred on Sunday 22 December 2019, when a woman who had been on a night out in Warrington town centre was walking back to her address at around 2.20am, and described being approached by a man.
The victim was not able to recall the exact events following this interaction but she was in pain and believed she had been raped.
Forensic swabs taken from the victim did not come back with any results or DNA matches at the time. In 2023, following Grudev’s arrest, his DNA was tested against DNA from the 2019 incident, which provided a match. He was subsequently charged with rape in November 2023.
The victim told how she also suffers from panic attacks and is scared of going to her car in the dark.
On top of his custodial sentence, Grudev will also need to sign the Sex Offender Register.
John Weate, defending, said that the defendant, who has no other convictions in the UK. still denies the rape offence. While in prison he has been working and acting as a mentor to other foreign prisoners.
The judge pointed out that the latter offence could have been avoided but for a police slip-up.
Liverpool Crown Court heard that after attacking the first victim in the early hours of December 22, 2019 Grudev returned to his homeland, where he already had convictions for rape and sex assaults on three young women.
Judge Neil Flewitt, KC, said that the defendant had been identified as a suspect in 2019 and it was known he had returned to Bulgaria.
If an European arrest warrant had been issued, following his arrest abroad or here it was likely a DNA sample would match that taken from the victim and he would have been kept in custody and unable to carry out the later attempted rape.
“That is a significant failure by those then responsible for the investigation. I hope a lesson has been learnt from that oversight so that there is no such failure in any future investigation.”
He told Grudev that he agreed with a probation report which described him as “a sexual predator.
“Unless your outlook changes you will on release pose an imminent risk of serious harm by the commission of further sexual offences.”
The judge said that the defendant is a dangerous offender and a psychiatrist said he “demonstrated grandiosity, dissocial behaviour and narcissistic personality disorder traits.
“You lack victim empathy and continue to minimise your offending behaviour.”
Judge Flewitt told him, “I’m unable to foresee a time when you will no longer pose a danger to the public.”
He imposed a minimum term of 14 years less the 555 days he has spent on remand but pointed out that was when the Parole Board could first review his case and not a release date. It is anticipated he will be deported when, and if, he is ever freed.
Detective Constable Paul Beesley, of Warrington CID, said after the senetncing:“Firstly, I would like to commend the bravery of the two victims who went through such traumatic events but found the courage to report what happened to them and engage with the subsequent investigations.
“Grudev is evidently a dangerous individual, on both occasions targeting women who were walking home following nights out. He was clearly only thinking about satisfying his own twisted sexual desires, with no regard for how his victims must have felt and the lasting consequences of his despicable actions.
“I hope the fact that Grudev is now behind bars will give the victims some sense of closure, with the knowledge that he cannot do this to anyone else.”
To report any sexual offence call Cheshire Constabulary on 101 or visit cheshire.police.uk/ro/report/rsa/alpha-v1/v1/rape-sexual-assault-other-sexual-offences. Always call 999 in an emergency.
Information can also be passed anonymously, via Crimestoppers, on 0800 555 111.
