Tom Rodwell Wiki

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Who is Tom Rodwell ?

A “callous and insensitive s*xual predator” who subjected five young women to a series of rape tests and was described as a danger to women has been jailed for life.

Royal Navy serviceman Tom Rodwell, 31, used Tinder to catch his victims, including three college students, under the guise of seeking a relationship.

But he subjected them to surprisingly violent s*xual assaults, some while they were sleeping, in what one judge called a “rape campaign” and even sent a message to a victim asking “When can I rape you again?”

By jailing Rodwell for life with a minimum of 12 years, Judge Paul Watson QC said the defendant was “addicted to a sense of power” that he had over women, whose lives he had “ruined.”

The court was told that, although he was not convicted, Rodwell had been charged with rape before in Scotland, but was acquitted in court.

He told Rodwell: ‘You serially raped five young women in what, in my judgment, can only be described as a rape campaign.

You are a cruel and callous s*xual predator whose only concern was your own gratification.

Victim

You did not consider the feelings and wishes of the women you raped

You did not consider the feelings and wishes of the women you raped, especially if they stood in the way of fulfilling your own wishes.

Under the pretext of pretending to seek relationships, you exploited them using psychological pressure and manipulation, as well as brute physical force.

‘You tried to lower your self-confidence and self-esteem. Each in their own way was vulnerable and you knew it. That’s why you signed them up.

You have left deep emotional scars that will take years to heal, if they ever do. You have ruined their lives in so many ways and I am full of admiration for them who came forward to let the police know what you did.

Judge Watson said Rodwell was a “real and significant risk” to any woman he encountered.

He added: ‘You are an unquestionably dangerous man.’

The girls, two of whom attended Durham University, met 31-year-old Rodwell on Tinder and were subjected to 11 degrading tests by a predator fascinated by violent s*x.

One of the young women said: ‘I thought he was going to kill me. If they hadn’t arrested him, he would have murdered someone.

Another victim described him as a ‘monster’.

Rodwell, who has facial tattoos, admitted to 10 counts of rape, one count of attempted rape and one s*xual assault between 2017 and 2020 when he appeared in Teesside Crown Court today.

He raped his first victim four times in 2017, the second time in the same year, the third was raped in 2017 and 2019, and he raped the fourth in 2020.

He admitted rape, penetrative assault and attempted rape against his fifth victim.

Prosecutor Richard Bennett told Teesside Crown Court

Prosecutor Richard Bennett told Teesside Crown Court: “The defendant, using social media, would contact several young unmarried women and, once in contact with them, would physically and s*xually abuse them.”

“In addition to physical and s*xual abuse, he manipulated them psychologically and in some cases made them feel useless. The effect on the victims is clear from his personal statements.

It is clear that the accused was s*xually aroused by exercising physical violence on these victims. He would also become s*xually aroused when he engaged in non-consensual s*xual activity. ‘

The first victim was a college student when she met Rodwell in 2017 through Tinder.

She suffered from depression and anxiety and the defendant used this to her advantage and made fun of her about it. He was also violent towards her, slapping and hitting her, the court was told.

She described how the s*x was forceful and asked him to stop, but he choked and slapped her.

Prosecutors said that in discussions between them, Rodwell said he liked “rough s*x.”

He would strangle her with one hand and found out that he would do the opposite of what she asked, the court heard.

Bennet said: “On one occasion the victim was in bed with the defendant and he made it clear that she wanted s*x.

‘She said that she did not want to have s*x with the accused and he responded by saying that’ it was not her decision ‘.

He then pushed her onto the bed and had s*x with her.

“She described that the defendant had raped her on several occasions and that she was returning home from her job in the Navy, when he was stationed in Scotland. He would force her to have s*x against her will.

The second victim was also a college student when she met Rodwell through the Tinder app in 2017.

Later, Rodwell sent him a WhatsApp message asking

On their first meeting, Rodwell threw his birth control pills in the trash.

The second time they met in a flat, they asked for some food and Rodwell started s*x to which she agreed until he became forceful and began to beat her.

He told her that “he couldn’t do anything because he was stronger than her” and continued to have s*x with her in a test that lasted up to 30 minutes, Bennett said.

Later, Rodwell sent him a WhatsApp message asking, ‘When can I rape you again?’

In a personal statement from her, the woman she said: “It has left me feeling vulnerable and embarrassed and wondering if I should have seen red flags in her behavior.”

The third victim was also a student when she met Rodwell on Tinder.

Mr. Bennett said: “The defendant repeatedly ignored her request to use a condom and had s*x without one.

‘The accused drank before having s*x. He was s*xually rude and during and after s*x she would tell him that he was hurting her.

“Rather than temper her demeanor, he became even tougher and left her with bruises at times.”

Rodwell raped her victim while she slept and became increasingly violent as time passed until he began hitting her on the back of the head during s*x, the court was told.

Mr Bennett said

Mr Bennett said: ‘He hit her harder and harder, and sometimes four or five times a night. He would later tell her that he deserved it because she was a ‘slut’.

The woman addressed the court in person to describe her ordeal.

She said: ‘I used to think about how to kill myself to escape the abuse. I thought Tom would kill me and if they hadn’t arrested him when they did, I think he would have murdered someone.

The fourth victim went on a date to a music event with Rodwell and she woke up in a hotel to find him pulling her hair and forcing her to have a s*xual act.

Her fifth victim also met Rodwell through Tinder and suffered a similar experience beginning in 2019.

Bennett said: “He told her early on, in messages that he sent her, that he wanted to ‘possess’ her and ‘strangle her.’

He made it clear that he didn’t want her to talk to anyone else and told her to delete her Tinder app from her. The first time they met, he essentially invited himself to his home.

“She described several occasions where the defendant s*xually assaulted or raped her.”

The court heard that he then slept with another woman and told his fifth victim that she would have to be ‘totally submissive in every way’ if she wanted him back.

She had been fitted with an emergency coil and kept it on for the rest of the relationship so that he would not have to use a condom, at her command.

The woman read a statement in court.

She said: ‘I was a prisoner in my own house with a monster. My feelings were never considered, she took everything she had to give.

“I have to live in the house where I was physically, emotionally and s*xually abused and that reminds me of that every day.”

Rodwell pleaded not guilty to a single rape more than the fifth victim and three offenses of controlling and coercive behavior, which were allowed to remain on file.

Andrew Turton, mitigating, said that Rodwell claims

Andrew Turton, mitigating, said that Rodwell claims to have had more than 100 s*xual partners.

He said: ‘His actions of him with five of them bring him to court today. He is a former man of good character.

Restraining orders were put in place to prevent him from contacting any of the women.

After sentencing, Detective Constable Rick Sainsbury paid tribute to the women who have now seen him imprisoned for life.

He said: ‘Rodwell’s offense is despicable.

“He is a dangerous individual and his depraved and selfish actions have caused lasting harm to his victims and his families.”