Piccadilly rapist convicted

The serial rapist who attacked four women in an hour near Manchester Piccadilly station has been indefinitely detained.

Paranoid schizophrenic Thomas Hall, 33, raped three sex workers and sexually assaulted another after the ‘voices’ in his head told him to.

Two women were forced to run half-naked down the street and beg passing motorists for help.

The final victim heard him boasting over the phone after his attack saying “I’ve done three or four now. I’ve had the best night of my life”.

Judge Richard Mansell QC said: “You are a very dangerous man. Ordinarily you would receive lengthy custodial sentence running well into double figures”.

“These offences demonstrate serious violence and sexual violence. You pose a risk not just to women, but people generally.”

Adrian Farrow, defending, said that Hall suffered flashbacks from a troubling childhood experience.

At the time of the attack, 5^th March 2013, he was already on police bail for raping another woman a month earlier.

Hall, who also suffers from personality disorders, pleaded guilty to four counts of rape, one sexual assault and assault causing actual bodily harm.

He has been detained under the mental health act at maximum security Ashworth Hospital, currently also holding Dale Cregan and Ian Brady.

He cannot be released without approval of doctors and a mental health tribunal.