A man has been jailed for a total of 22 years after being found guilty of the rape of two women in Blackburn.
On 29th November 2024, Slawomir Klimek approached a woman in her 30s on Throstle Street in Blackburn. He gripped hold of her coat and hit her in the face. He then held her by the throat and raped her. As he left, he threatened the victim.
Exactly two weeks later, on 13th December, Klimek approached a second woman, hit her to the face, and raped her, leaving her in and out of consciousness as he continued to assault and rape her. The woman screamed for help and attempted to fight back.
An investigation was launched, after police received the report of the second incident on 13th December. During that investigation, they received the report of the offence from November.
Klimek was arrested, and following consultation with the Crown Prosecution Service, charged. Following a trial at Preston Crown court, he was found guilty of two counts of the rape of a woman and two counts of assault causing actual bodily harm.
Klimek, 33, of Ingleb Close, Blackburn was sentenced to 10 years for the first count, and 12 years for the second. These sentences will run consecutively, totalling to 22 years, and Klimek will be required to serve at least two thirds of that sentence.
A spokesperson for Lancashire Police said: ‘’First and foremost, we want to praise the victims for their incredible strength and bravery throughout the judicial process. We want to thank them for putting their trust in us to investigate their reports and bring Klimek to justice. We hope they can now begin to move forward with their lives, knowing that Klimek is behind bars.
‘’Klimek is a dangerous man. He raped, threatened and assaulted two women for his own abhorrent sexual desires. Even as one of the women screamed for help then played dead in attempt to get him to stop, he continued to rape and assault her. Klimek carried out a sustained and brutal attack on one of his victims, before casually walking away from the scene. He is a sexual predator, who chose to attack his victims in the horrific way he did.
‘’If you have been a victim of any sexual offence, please get in contact with us. We will listen to your report, we will treat it with the sensitivity it deserves, we will carry out a thorough investigation and we will do all we can to get you justice.’’
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