LEEDS MAN ADMITS 13-YEAR SERIAL RAPE CAMPAIGN
A lorry driver named Clive Barwell yesterday admitted to a series of brutal rapes and kidnappings spanning 13 years.He was linked to the crimes through DNA testing, which connected four attacks in Leeds, Bradford, and Nottingham.
This led to the launch of Operation Lynx, which was described as the biggest police manhunt since the Yorkshire Ripper investigation.
Barwell, aged 42 and from Clyde Chase, Wortley, Leeds, pleaded guilty in Teesside Crown Court to multiple charges including three rapes, one attempted murder, four kidnappings, one serious sexual assault, one indecent assault, and one assault causing actual bodily harm.
The article details his method of attack, where he targeted women parking their cars alone in city centers.
He would abduct victims at knifepoint, drive them away in their own vehicles, and subject them to sexual assault or rape before abandoning them.
In some cases, he superglued eyelids closed, and in others, he threw victims into canals.
His first known attack was in December 1982 in Bradford, and he continued until his final attack in July 1995 in Leeds.
Barwell was arrested nine months after one victim publicly described her ordeal on Crimewatch UK.
The police linked the serial attacks through DNA evidence in 1997.
Other crimes discussed, which were not linked to him, were left on file.
The article notes that a police spokesman expressed satisfaction with the guilty plea and indicated a press conference would follow sentencing at Teesside Crown Court.
