Rapist given life sentence

An 'evil' Cannock man who raped and sexually assaulted teenage girls was today jailed for life.

Motorbike racer Julian Renhard, who lured the girls to parties at his home on Saunders Close before getting them drunk and coercing them into performing sex acts, will serve at least eight years. Renhard had been convicted at an earlier trial at Shrewsbury Crown Court.

He appeared at Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court today for sentencing.

The court heard that the 43-year-old got one girl to dance naked around a microphone stand and even videoed his victims.

Renhard had been convicted of 10 sex attacks, including four of rape, by a jury after denying the offences. Five girls had made complaints of sexual abuse during a period between October 2002 and January last year.

He sacked his legal team after his conviction and refused to face his victims in court today, instead cowering in his cell, still protesting his innocence and claiming he had been let down by the legal system.

But Judge Paul Glenn described him as "undoubtedly a manipulative, cunning and evil man".

He said: "Renhard poses a high risk to children and a significant risk to the public.

"The defendant used young girls for his entertainment and that of his friends.

"The victims, who were aged between 13 and 15, had sustained significant psychological harm." He described Renhard's actions as brazen offending and said the crimes were planned and not opportunistic.

Jailing Renhard for public protection, he set a life sentence minimum term of eight years. The mother of one of the victims said after today's hearing: "Life should mean life. He should rot in hell."

Renhard was placed on the sex offenders' register for life and banned from working with children.