Birmingham Man Sentenced to Life for Raping Two Women

BIRMINGHAM MAN SENTENCED TO LIFE FOR RAPING TWO WOMEN

A Birmingham man named Noel Dias, aged 38, has been sentenced to life imprisonment at Birmingham's Crown Court for the crimes of kidnapping and rape of two women.

The court heard that Dias lured the victims back to his maisonette in Cranwell Way, Castle Vale, under false pretenses.

Once there, he overpowered one in her 20s and the other in her 40s, both of whom he assaulted during daylight hours in his bedroom.

Dias had been previously convicted of rape in 1986 and sentenced to three years in prison.

During the sentencing, Judge Robert Orme stated that Dias had applied pressure on the victims to prevent them from reporting the attacks.

He was ordered to serve at least six years before being eligible for parole.

Prosecutor Michael Burrows detailed that Dias's past conviction was for attacking a woman on a railway embankment.

Dias denied the current charges, claiming that one of the women had consented to sex and insisted that the other assault did not occur.

Nonetheless, the jury found him guilty of two counts of rape after a week-long trial.

The judge emphasized that Dias had endangered the victims' well-being, and the officer involved, Det Con Stephanie McCourt, expressed satisfaction with the verdict, stating that justice had been served.

The case concluded with Dias receiving the mandatory life sentence, with the court setting a minimum of six years of incarceration.