Kidnapped prostitute was gagged, shackled and raped in 'mobile dungeon' during ordeal judge described as 'the stuff of nightmares'
- Jailed tormentor on bail for downloading child pornography at the time
- 24-year-old victim said ordeal 'ruined her life'
A woman suffered a six hour ordeal after being abducted, gagged and rapped in a van converted into a ‘mobile dungeon’.
The 24-year-old said she feared for her life after she was kidnapped at knifepoint by serial sexual offender Kevin John Hills.Hills, 40, who was jailed indefinitely with a minimum term of nine years, was on bail for downloading child pornography at the time of the kidnap.
Abducted: The woman was shackled in the back of the 'mobile dungeon' van, driven to a remote area near Cropston reservoir and raped for six hours
The young woman was approached by Hills in the red light district in Highfields, Leicester where she worked as a prostitute.When she followed Hills to the van, he pulled out a knife and forced her into the van, Leicester Crown Court was told.After seeing her tormentor jailed, the victim said she is constantly reminded of the attack and still thinks about it every day.
‘It has ruined my life. I can't be on my own, I feel vulnerable and scared all the time, but I am determined to try to beat the horrible shadow this man has cast over my life.‘The sentence is sufficient but I wish he could stay in jail forever. I hate him. I really thought I was going to die.’After she had her hands tied and mouth covered with tape, the woman tried to throw herself from the moving Vauxhall van, but Hills said: ‘Sit still. It makes no odds to me if you're dead or alive.’
Sentenced: Mr Hills admitted kidnap and various sexual offences and was jailed indefinitely at Leicester Crown Court
Judge Sylvia De Bertodano said: ‘It's the stuff of people's worst nightmares.’Realising what was about to happen she thought leaping from the van was ‘the lesser evil’, Andrew Easteal, prosecuting said.Hills, from Beumont Leys, Leicester pulled her back into the vehicle, hit her around the head and shoved her into the footwell, before driving her to an isolated spot near Cropston reservoir.
Mr Easteal said: ‘He'd converted his high-top van into a mobile dungeon, designed so the victim could be restrained and rendered helpless and abused in any way he saw fit.‘He'd carefully planned what he was going to do.’On the night of the incident, joiner Hills had told his then-partner that he was going to a casino with friends but instead drove his van to Highfields where he targeted the victim, a vulnerable and slightly-built prostitute.
Having driven into the countryside, he dragged the woman into the back and ‘shackled’ her feet with ropes, and used two bungee-type ropes from the ceiling to ‘string her up’. Still with tape across her mouth, she was rendered completely helpless. Hills then proceeded to raping the 24-year-old for six hours. He eventually dropped her off in a city centre car park at 2.30am.
Following his arrest, he claimed she consented to sexual activity in the van. Hills admitted kidnap and various sexual offences and Judge Sylvia De Bertodano said he would only be freed when he was no longer considered a danger. He also admitted eight counts of downloading child pornography, of girls aged between six and 15.The offences related to 143 images at level one - the least serious - eight at level two, 12 at level three and seven at level four, found on his computer, in February 2011.
Gary Short, mitigating, said: ‘The indecent images show the level of his preoccupation with sex. ‘What happened to the victim was the escalation of seeking personal sexual gratification.’
The 24-year-old said she feared for her life after she was kidnapped at knifepoint by serial sexual offender Kevin John Hills.Hills, 40, who was jailed indefinitely with a minimum term of nine years, was on bail for downloading child pornography at the time of the kidnap.
Abducted: The woman was shackled in the back of the 'mobile dungeon' van, driven to a remote area near Cropston reservoir and raped for six hours
The young woman was approached by Hills in the red light district in Highfields, Leicester where she worked as a prostitute.When she followed Hills to the van, he pulled out a knife and forced her into the van, Leicester Crown Court was told.After seeing her tormentor jailed, the victim said she is constantly reminded of the attack and still thinks about it every day.
‘It has ruined my life. I can't be on my own, I feel vulnerable and scared all the time, but I am determined to try to beat the horrible shadow this man has cast over my life.‘The sentence is sufficient but I wish he could stay in jail forever. I hate him. I really thought I was going to die.’After she had her hands tied and mouth covered with tape, the woman tried to throw herself from the moving Vauxhall van, but Hills said: ‘Sit still. It makes no odds to me if you're dead or alive.’
Sentenced: Mr Hills admitted kidnap and various sexual offences and was jailed indefinitely at Leicester Crown Court
Judge Sylvia De Bertodano said: ‘It's the stuff of people's worst nightmares.’Realising what was about to happen she thought leaping from the van was ‘the lesser evil’, Andrew Easteal, prosecuting said.Hills, from Beumont Leys, Leicester pulled her back into the vehicle, hit her around the head and shoved her into the footwell, before driving her to an isolated spot near Cropston reservoir.
Mr Easteal said: ‘He'd converted his high-top van into a mobile dungeon, designed so the victim could be restrained and rendered helpless and abused in any way he saw fit.‘He'd carefully planned what he was going to do.’On the night of the incident, joiner Hills had told his then-partner that he was going to a casino with friends but instead drove his van to Highfields where he targeted the victim, a vulnerable and slightly-built prostitute.
Having driven into the countryside, he dragged the woman into the back and ‘shackled’ her feet with ropes, and used two bungee-type ropes from the ceiling to ‘string her up’. Still with tape across her mouth, she was rendered completely helpless. Hills then proceeded to raping the 24-year-old for six hours. He eventually dropped her off in a city centre car park at 2.30am.
Following his arrest, he claimed she consented to sexual activity in the van. Hills admitted kidnap and various sexual offences and Judge Sylvia De Bertodano said he would only be freed when he was no longer considered a danger. He also admitted eight counts of downloading child pornography, of girls aged between six and 15.The offences related to 143 images at level one - the least serious - eight at level two, 12 at level three and seven at level four, found on his computer, in February 2011.
Gary Short, mitigating, said: ‘The indecent images show the level of his preoccupation with sex. ‘What happened to the victim was the escalation of seeking personal sexual gratification.’
