A thug and pervert who became a one-man crime wave involving almost 50 “utterly bizarre” attacks on girls and women has been jailed for life.

John Guscott showed no reaction as a judge told him he would have to serve a minimum of 12-and-a-half years before he will be considered for release.

Judge Philip Statman said if he had been passing a determinate sentence it would have been one of 25 years.

The 43-year-old, of Kemp Close Chatham, will then be on licence for the rest of his life.

Maidstone Crown Court heard while travelling around Medway, Sittingbourne and Whitstable in his job as a steel fixer, Guscott committed sexual assault, exposure, robbery and attempted robbery while masked.

One victim had a heart attack as a result of her ordeal and was detained in hospital for several days.

“I have formulated the view that you are, I regret to say, a very dangerous individual. I, therefore, determine the appropriate sentence in this case is a discretionary life sentence” - Judge Statman

Judge Statman told Guscott: “The consequences of your offending is clear for all to observe. You have changed the lives of the 47 victims in this case.

“I have formulated the view that you are, I regret to say, a very dangerous individual. I, therefore, determine the appropriate sentence in this case is a discretionary life sentence.”

Guscott denied 19 charges of sexual assault, eight of robbery, six of assault causing actual bodily harm, four of attempted robbery, two of exposure and one of attempted sexual assault.

He was convicted of all the offences except one of attempted sexual assault, one of robbery and one of attempted robbery.

Following conviction he admitted seven more sexual assaults, two of actual bodily harm and one of robbery.

He denied outraging public decency, exposure, actual bodily harm and sexual assault, and they were left on the court file.

Prosecutor Peter Forbes said at the start of the trial that Guscott committed a series of stranger attacks, mostly on lone women or girls out walking the Medway towns, Sittingbourne and Whitstable.

There were 37 separate incidents between January and November 2014.

“Broadly speaking, half are sexual assaults or attempted sexual assaults,” said Mr Forbes. “A quarter are robberies or attempted robberies.

“Most of the remainder of the charges are assaults causing actual bodily harm to simple exposure.”

He was linked to the series of offences after his fingerprints were found on money off vouchers stolen from one of the victims.

“From that point, once the fingerprint was identified, the offences committed by Mr Guscott began to unfold,” said Mr Forbes.

“When he was arrested he had in his possession a mobile phone which police were able to confirm had been stolen from one of the victims months before.

“When his car was searched another phone was discovered which was linked to one of the complainants who was robbed.”

The phone data was analysed and linked with camera shots from automatic number plate readers. There was a significant match between the movements of Guscott’s van and the offences being committed.

“On some dates there are multiple offences - some times five in a day, some times only one,” said Mr Forbes.

“Some times the allegations are miles apart, but his van can be seen to have moved from the Medway towns to Sittingbourne to Whitstable for further offending.”

Despite his face often being covered by a scarf or balaclava, there were positive identifications for nine of the offences.

Mr Forbes said significant items were recovered when Guscott’s home and vehicles were searched. They included two balaclavas, motorcycle gloves and hoodies.

Five offences involving five women were committed on January 13 last year in the space of just over two hours - three of robbery, one of exposure and one of sexual assault.