Sexual predator jailed for life over attack on Leeds pensioner

Tremayne Gaskell was handed the sentence after a judge told him he would continue to pose a serious risk to vulnerable women if he ever remained at large.

A jury heard the 46-year-old has an “atrocious” criminal record for violence towards woman after he was found guilty of two offences of rape and one of robbery against his 68-year-old victim.

Gaskell armed himself with a knife before targeting the victim, described as a “trusting and vulnerable lady” in a pub in Leeds city centre shortly after he was released from prison.

Gaskell was allowed back to her home before he locked the door and threatened her with the weapon.

He then used tape to tie her up before robbing her of her jewellery and subjecting her to the sex attacks.

The woman’s ordeal did not end until the next morning. Gaskell told the woman he would come back and kill her.

Gaskell was told he must serve a minimum of nine years in prison before he can apply to the parole board for release.

Judge James Spencer told him: “It was cruel. It was nasty, and it shows you for what you are.

“In my judgement you are a dangerous man. Dangerous in the sense that if you are at large you are ever likely to commit offences of this kind and commit serious physical harm to another human being.”

Gaskell, of Springwell View, Holbeck, Leeds, was arrested two days after the attack, which took place on February 4 this year.

The jury of nine women and three men rejected his claims during the trial that his victim had consented to sex.

After the case, the victim, who cannot be identified, said: “Since this man did this to me I haven’t been right since.

“I get upset and I end up crying and I can’t sleep at night.

“I can’t even say what it is that makes me cry but the things this man did to me ran through my mind and I am really frightened.

“After the incident I didn’t go back into my house, which had been my home for five years. I was too scared. I am frightened of him coming back because he said that if I told anyone he would come looking for me and would kill me.

“It is because of this I have given up my home and moved out of the area.

“I did not even take anything out of the house other than my clothes, microwave and stereo as I couldn’t face having the same things in my new home that this man had touched because this would remind me every day about the horrible and nasty things this man had done to me.”

Gaskell was out of jail on licence for a three-and-a-half-year sentence imposed in September 2012 for stabbing a woman in the face and neck at a house in Farnley, Leeds.

He has a long criminal history for serious violent offences. One attack involved a woman suffering an eye injury when she was struck in the face with a pistol. Gaskell has spent almost every day of his life in prison since 2002.

Det Chief Inspector Mark Griffin, who heads Leeds District Safeguarding Unit, said: “These offences clearly show that Gaskell is a sexual predator who presents a serious danger to women. We believe he cynically preyed on the vulnerable victim from the outset and had sinister intentions towards her all along. She was put through a prolonged ordeal which has understandably had a lasting traumatic effect on her.

“Police enquiries quickly identified Gaskell as the suspect for these offences and he was traced to the city centre and arrested the next day after being recognised by officers patrolling the area.

“A full and thorough investigation by specialist safeguarding officers has seen him brought to justice and we hope the fact he has now had to answer for his crimes will provide some source of comfort to the victim.”