'˜He has killed my life' says rape victim who fears release of serial attacker

She is a victim of Red House man Kevin Lakeman, who was jailed for life by Newcastle Crown Court in 1995 for three rapes and an attempted rape following a campaign of sickening assaults which began in 1981.

Eight other rape charges and four of attempted rapes, all of which Lakeman denied, were allowed to lie on file, while 10 other sex charges against him were dropped.

Mowbray Park, pictured in 1995, which was one of the locations where Kevin Lakeman struck during his campaign of sex attacks on women in the city.

Lakeman, then 31-year-old, of Ribble Road, had been caught thanks to DNA evidence, with a minimum of 12 years given before he could be considered for parol.

Now, 23 years later, the Parole Board has decided he can now be freed, with a number of his victims told he will be out this month to live in monitored accommodation.

Several others contacted the Echo to say they had not been told of the decision by the authorities and had discovered the news through our stories.

Now another woman, one of those whose cases were allowed to lie on file after the trial at Leeds Crown Court, has spoken of the devastating impact his attack has had on her life.

A photo taken in 1995 of Sunderland Civic Centre Car Park as the Kevin Lakeman trial was held in Leeds.

She says she endured a “day of hell” when CID officers turned up at her home to tell her this week he was due out.

But like the others subjected to terrifying assaults, she fears coming face-to-face with him and has said he should not be released.

She was heading into Sunderland city centre early one evening in 1985 when she was grabbed and pulled into Sunderland Civic Centre’s car park.

She had a knife held to her throat and told she would be killed if she screamed before she was raped in Mowbray Park.

The ordeal led her to attempt to take her life on a number of occasions, turning to alcohol and left her mistrusting men, while members of her family have also struggled to come to terms with what has happened to her.

“He has killed my life,” she said.

“This happened in 1985 and I was rebuilding my life in 1995 when I was crushed when it came to court and now here it is again.

“I was heartbroken when I was told the Parole Board had made its decision without talking to anyone who will be affected by that decision when he comes out.

“I would hope the board could 100% guarantee me that he would never come near me or touch anyone again, but how can they?

“I don’t think there’s any way he should be released.

“How can you change someone who is like that?

“I don’t feel like our voices are being heard, I think they’ve totally disregarded us.

“I know he got a life sentence but this is going to be with me until the day I die.”