A violent serial rapist described as a “monster of the night” who attacked women in their sleep has been jailed for more than 40 years.

Ian Hamilton, 63, from Dover, raped and indecently assaulted 11 women and girls over 23 years, some of whom he left with broken bones - another he disfigured after sinking his teeth into her nose.

Hamilton was placed behind bars at Inner London Crown Court today for 42 years and one month, with a judge describing him as “cunning and sadistic” and a “monster of the night”.

Judge Silas Reid added: 'What you have done with many women in this case has shaped their whole outlook on life.

“They live with the horrors you have put them through.

“All the victims have shown immense bravery to overcome the damage you have caused them.'

“Hopefully after today all of your victims can put you in their past.”

Hamilton’s depravity came to light when women gave strikingly similar accounts of his violent sexual behaviour in Dover and Canterbury between 1976 and 1999, some of which took place while they were asleep.

He was charged with numerous sexual offences after the police’s cold case team reviewed a 1988 investigation into an attack on a girl in the village of Hersden.

This, in turn, linked him to a 1992 report concerning abuse he inflicted on a child in Dover in the mid-1980s.

Detectives began tracing and interviewing people who had come into contact with Hamilton around that time.

It led to several women revealing they had also been the victims of violence and sexual abuse at his hands.

Officers identified a further nine women who had been victims of sexual offences between 1977 and 2000.

As a result, more than 50 previously unreported offences were investigated and Hamilton was arrested at his home in Snodland in March 2024.

Following his arrest, a computer in his possession was found to contain more than 1,500 indecent images, while search terms were found on his laptop similar to the attacks the victims had described.

In addition to the sexual attacks Hamilton committed, he was also frequently violent.

Callous Hamilton fractured one woman’s leg then, as the plaster cast was finally removed, broke the same limb again.

A separate woman’s cheekbone was cracked when he punched her in the face, and another was left with a scar after Hamilton bit her nose.

He also fractured the eye socket of the boyfriend of one of the victims.

Susanna Mitchell from the CPS said: “Ian Hamilton is a violent sexual offender who has now been brought to justice for appalling attacks on women and girls over more than 20 years.

“Described by one of the victims as a 'Jekyll and Hyde' character, he would find women and girls who were generally much younger than him and he thought would be less likely to fight back.

“The attacks he subjected these women and girls to were horrific with one describing how she ‘felt completely beaten down and powerless’ and another saying she felt ‘helpless and trapped’.

“Some of the victims described how they were forced to have sex with him when he demanded it, saying they had no way of fighting him off and were too scared to refuse, as he threatened one woman with a knife and beat others.

“The Crown Prosecution Service is determined to bring violent sexual offenders like Hamilton to justice and I hope that this verdict gives some comfort to all the women in this case who have been through terrible ordeals.”

Following a trial Hamilton was convicted of 12 counts of rape, 37 counts of indecent assault, three counts of causing grievous bodily harm with intent, inflicting grievous bodily harm and assault occasioning actual bodily harm.

He pleaded guilty before trial to three counts of making indecent images of children, inflicting grievous bodily harm, assault occasioning actual bodily harm and indecency with a child.

Upon his release, Hamilton must serve an additional two years on extended licence.

Speaking after the hearing, detective inspector Lee Neiles, said: 'Ian Hamilton raped and indecently assaulted girls and women throughout his life and, such was the terror he instilled in his victims, many felt unable to report the offences at the time.

“I would like to praise the victims’ courage in supporting this investigation and giving evidence at the trial. The case could not have been brought without their bravery.

“I would also like to pay tribute to the tenacity and commitment of our Cold Case Investigation Team in what was a complex and challenging case.

“The support of the victims and the work of investigators meant that, not only was it possible to bring charges in the two previously unsolved cases, but also to find further victims and hold Hamilton responsible for his lifetime of attacking women and girls.

“I urge anyone who has been a victim of sexual violence to come forward and report it to police, no matter how much time has passed.

“We will investigate and do everything within our power to make sure those who commit such crimes, whether recently or in the past, are brought to justice.”