An unemployed Merton man has been sentenced to 14 years in jail for rape and a series of brutal assaults including whipping two women with a metal stick.

Douglas Arthur, 43, was sentenced at Kingston Crown Court on Friday for one count of rape and six other offences, including sexual assault and actual bodily harm.

The six sentences - which will run concurrently - include four years for sexual assault and actual bodily harm on the woman he raped and another count of actual bodily harm on a second woman.

He was also sentenced to four months for two assaults on two other women and three years for perverting the course of justice after pleading guilty to all charges.

The court heard how Arthur had followed two 21-year-old women down Tooting High Street on October 28 last year.

The women told him to go away, but he attacked them with a plank of wood, hitting them round the head.

He then pulled one of the women down an alleyway running off Effort Street where he raped her.

The women, who suffered head injuries, were taken to a south London hospital for treatment.

Arthur struck again in Wimbledon on November 6 last year.

Kingston Crown Court was told how he attacked two women in Cavendish Road at 9.45pm, whipping them with a metal stick.

A passerby pulled Arthur off the two women after hearing their screams for help.

Officers from Wandsworth's Sapphire unit arrested and charged Arthur on February 2 after finding DNA evidence linking him to the crimes. He was remanded in custody.

On February 28 this year police were called to the prison by its security unit after they found letters written by Douglas asking his girlfriend to help him create a false alibi.

Officers then charged Arthur with attempting to pervert the course of justice.

Detective Constable Kevin Jackson from the Specialist Crime Directorate said: "Douglas Arthur is an extremely dangerous man and this sentence reflects the seriousness of this unprovoked attack on women who were simply going about their business.

"I would like to thank everyone involved in the case. You all contributed a great deal to the investigation and, just as important, the care you provided for the victims of these terrifying crimes was of the highest standard."