A man who hit a teenager over the head before dragging her into bushes and raping her has been jailed.

William Trotter, 39, of Dagonet Road, Bromley was today sentenced to life imprisonment, to serve a minimum 12 years at Croydon Crown Court.

Trotter had been found guilty of rape and kidnap with intent to commit a sexual offence following a 12-day trial.

He was jailed for eight years for the kidnap, which will run concurrently.

On Thursday, March 19, the victim had left a friend’s house in Petts Wood, Bromley.

She walked to see another friend in Orpington but found they were not home.

From there she took the N199 to Bromley to see her boyfriend.

At the Southborough Lane/Blackbrook Lane stop, Trotter boarded that bus.

As that point the young woman got off before realising she had left at the wrong stop and re-boarded behind Trotter.

The pair spoke for seconds before sitting down but as the bus approached the next stop, the victim stood up to leave, as did Trotter.

The victim got off at the Southborough Library stop and turned right and began walking down Southborough Lane towards Turpington Lane.

As the bus pulled away, its nearside camera filmed Trotter starting to run down Southborough Lane in the same direction that the victim was walking.

'The victim has been through a terrible ordeal and continues to show strength and courage...'

Trotter pursued the woman as she walked along Turpington Lane and as soon as she had crossed the road, near to a grassy area, he hit her over the right side of her head with an unknown object.

She was knocked to the ground and Trotter then dragged her into bushes where he raped her.

The court heard from a witness who heard the victims’ terrified screams and saw Trotter leaning over her.

They immediately dialled 999 and police arrived within four minutes and as officers turned up, the victim stumbled out of the bushes.

Police saw Trotter in the bushes and moved to arrest him but he fled, climbing over a fence into nearby allotments.

A media appeal was issued on the day of the attack to find witnesses and a CCTV image of Trotter was published.

After that several people, including former partners, identified the man in the image as Trotter, but he fled to Scotland and stayed with a relative, lying about why he suddenly arrived.

Detectives launched an immediate manhunt and Trotter was tracked down back in London. When officers arrested him, he gave a false name and tried to escape again.

During the trial the jury heard that DNA evidence from a plastic bag that Trotter was carrying and later recovered from the scene carried the profiles of both Trotter and the victim.

Judge Elizabeth Lowe commented that the immediate impact of watching the CCTV relating to the offence was horrific.

She said that Trotter had haunted his young victim's life and added that he had demonstrated no remorse and put everyone unnecessarily through a trial despite overwhelming evidence against him.

The judge told Trotter he was a serial violent predator and an extreme risk to the public.

He will remain on licence and on the sex offenders' register for life.

After sentencing, DC Penelope Rea, said: “The victim has been through a terrible ordeal and continues to show strength and courage.

"While nothing will ever take away the trauma of what happened I hope that the sentence handed down can begin to help her close this chapter of her life.

“Trotter has been taken off the streets thanks to organisations working together to apprehend him.

"We are grateful to Police Scotland for their assistance and to TfL (Transport for London) in providing valuable evidence that has helped secure this conviction."

To read more of our in depth coverage of all of the major trials coming out of crown and magistrates' courts across the county, click here.

For information on how we can report on court proceedings, click here.

Read more: All the latest news from Bexley and Bromley