A prolific rapist who lived a double life with his elderly parents has admitted a string of brutal attacks and attempted kidnaps over nearly 30 years.
Clive Howard, 56, was only caught after his numberplate was captured on CCTV, and police fear that he may have attacked more women.
Howard was a seemingly respectable garage mechanic who did not have a criminal record and lived with his elderly parents in Battisford, near Stowmarket in Suffolk. They were oblivious to his predatory activities when he terrorised women as they walked home late at night. He also had his own house in nearby Stowmarket.
Howard admitted seven counts of rape, three charges of attempted kidnap and one count of attempted rape, between 1986 and 2014, today.
He had denied the charges and his trial was due to start at Norwich Crown Court before he dramatically changed his plea at the last minute.
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Howard had been attacking women for years before he slipped up after raping a woman in St Helens Wharf car park, Norwich, on May 30, 2014. The victim, in her 20s, had been given a lift by Howard, who used the guise of a lift home to rape her. She tried to take a picture of the car’s registration number but Howard grabbed her phone and hurled it into a bush before speeding off.
However police were able to get part of the car’s number plate off CCTV, and Howard was arrested and charged a few days later.
His DNA was put on the police national database and he was linked to an unsolved case in Cambridgeshire in 2013. Howard’s DNA matched a profile obtained during an investigation into the attempted kidnap of a woman in her 20s on May 5, in a popular park - Christ’s Pieces.
The gutsy woman managed to fend off Howard, scratching him in the process, and DNA was later retrieved from underneath her fingernail.
He was then linked to three other attempted kidnappings in Cambridge, one of which had happened just 30 minutes before he struck in Christ’s Pieces.
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Howard also tried to abduct two women in the city on February 15, 2014, during the night.
Dective Sergeant Chris Burgess , of Norfolk Police rape investigation unit, said: “All were in the early hours of the morning.
“Each of the women were approached by a man who had got out of a car and attempted to get them into it.”
Mr Burgess said he was convinced there were more victims and he called on them to come forward.
“I’m concerned there are other victims out there either in Norfolk, Suffolk or Cambridge and would urge other women to come forward.
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“It’s very rare. Cases like this don’t come up very often - we’re talking about a serial rapist.
“We want to give people the chance to come forward.”
He said that before the Norwich rape Howard had done “two to three loops” around the city “before he managed to pick his victim”.
“It was a predatory type of patrolling around which was similar to the behaviour in Cambridge - driving around the city in loops just looking for his victim.”
Howard was remanded in custody and will be sentenced at the court on April 20.
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He also admitted six counts of rape against a woman between November 1986 and March 1993.
Judge Stephen Holt told him: “You’ve pleaded guilty and the one thing that can be said is your victim has been spared the ordeal of giving evidence.
“I’m sure you will understand I need to have a full pre-sentence report and the whole issue of whether you need to be sentenced as a dangerous offender will be made.”