M25 rapist Antoni Imiela dies in jail while awaiting parole decision

The serial sex attacker known as the M25 rapist has died in prison while being considered for release.

Antoni Imiela, 63, reportedly fell ill at HMP Wakefield on Thursday.

The German-born former railway worker, from Kent, was given seven life sentences with a minimum term of eight years in 2004, after being convicted of a series of attacks on victims as young as ten in 2001 and 2002. The locations of the assaults, in Kent, Surrey, Hertfordshire and west London, earned him the M25 rapist moniker.

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In one assault, Imiela “telephoned the mother of the victim to boast about raping her daughter”, says the International Business Times.

He was sentenced to a further 12 years in 2012 after his DNA identified him as the perpetrator of an unsolved 1987 sex attack.

Imiela was referred for a parole review in January, sparking outrage and controversy.

According to news website Birmingham Live, Imiela, who had served less than half his sentence, reportedly wrote to a friend about his hopes of being released, saying: “I’ve got the rest of my life to live.”

The Prison Service confirmed his death, “which is not being treated as suspicious”, says The Guardian.

A spokeswoman for the Prison Service said: “HMP Wakefield prisoner Antoni Imiela died in custody on Thursday 8 March 2018.

“As with all deaths in custody, there will be an independent investigation by the prisons and probation ombudsman.”