A convicted rapist has been jailed for life after he hit a woman over the head, dragged her into bushes and tried to rape her less than two years after his release from prison.

Warning: Some readers may find this article distressing

Ramazan Mukalazi, who was born in Uganda, had lost his right to live in Britain after being jailed for raping a 21-year-old woman as she was going home from a night out in central London in 2008.

Mukalazi, now 40, grabbed his victim from behind and told her “if you scream I will rip your tongue out” before raping her, the Old Bailey was told.

He was handed an indeterminate sentence with a minimum term of 48 months in jail for rape in 2009 and recommended for deportation.

Mukalazi was released on licence in September 2018 but recalled in October 2019 for “risky behaviour” – described as making unwanted advances towards a woman at a Cheshire nightclub.

He was later transferred to an immigration detention centre before being released on immigration bail in January 2021.

Nearly two years later, in November 2022, Mukalazi subjected a 66-year-old woman to a “ferocious” sex attack in Hounslow, west London, after consuming alcohol and cannabis, the Old Bailey was told.

A passer-by mistakenly thought Mukalazi was tending to the woman, who was making a “gargling sound”, prosecution lawyer Max Hardy said.

Asked if an ambulance should be called, Mukalazi told the man to “go away”.

After calling an ambulance, the man was “shocked” to return to the scene and find the defendant dragging the woman by the feet into an alleyway.

He alerted police and officers found the defendant with his trousers around his ankles and on top of the woman in a garden, the court was told.

The victim, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, had serious head wounds and her face was covered in blood.

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After being charged, the defendant initially claimed he found the woman lying on the ground and she had fallen into a wooden fence and on to concrete.

But a medical report concluded she had been hit on the ear, punched in the eye and suffered blows to the head in a violent attack.

In mitigation, Felicia Davy said the defendant, who has lived in the UK since the age of seven, had been in a “state of desperation”.

Mukalazi, from Hounslow, west London, pleaded guilty to attempted rape and causing grievous bodily harm with intent.

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Judge Paul Dugdale told Mukalazi he is a “very dangerous” man and jailed him for life with a minimum term of 11 years.

He told the defendant: “You brutally attacked a 66-year-old woman walking on her own along the street in Hounslow in the darkness of a November morning.

“You attacked her for the sole purpose of raping her, which is what you then attempted to do.

“You beat her to the head, causing her to suffer a bleed on the brain, causing her to be hospitalised for a week.

“You pose an ongoing risk that you will rape again and in violent circumstances. In my judgement you are a very dangerous man.”

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