A man known as the M25 rapist after a series of brutal sex attacks has died in jail while serving seven life sentences.

Antoni Imiela, formerly of Heathside, Appledore, near Ashford, was jailed in 2004 after being found guilty of seven rapes, attempted rape and indecent assault during a year-long reign of terror.

In January this year it was reported that the predator was being considered for parole.

Now a Prison Service spokesman has confirmed Imiela died in custody at HMP Wakefield yesterday.

There will now be an independent investigation by the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman.

Imiela is believed to have died of natural causes.

He raped seven victims across the south east between 2001 and 2002 - first attacking a 10-year-old girl at Ashford's Stanhope estate.

For the sevens counts of rape he was given seven life sentences in 2004.

For kidnap he received 10 years. For indecent assault he received seven years and for attempted rape 12 years.

Jailing him in 2004, Mr Justice Owen told Imiela he was "a ruthless sexual predator who carefully selected locations in which you could strike on unsuspecting victims, overwhelming them with brute force and in most cases using threats to kill."

Imiela also had a string of previous convictions including a series of armed robberies for which he was jailed for 14 years in 1988.

Because of this he received automatic life sentences for each count of rape.

Then, after police put Imiela's DNA into its database, a cold case review into a Christmas Day sex attack in 1987 found a match between Imiela and another victim, who died in 2006.

For this he was jailed at the Old Bailey in March 2012 for 12 years.