Serial sex offender found guilty

Kirk Reid evaded capture for more than six years

A serial sex attacker who targeted lone women in south London over a six-year period has been found guilty of rape and sexual assault.

Kirk Reid, 44, of Colliers Wood, was convicted of two rapes and 24 sexual assaults but police believe he was behind at least 71 attacks on women.

He targeted women late at night in the Balham, Clapham and Tooting areas.

Scotland Yard apologised for mistakes which meant he was not arrested until four years after he was made a suspect.

The case has been sent to the Independent Police Complaints Commission for a full review.

BBC home affairs correspondent Andy Tighe said lengthy delays in apprehending Reid had raised serious concerns among senior Metropolitan officers about the performance of the force's dedicated Sapphire unit that investigates sex crimes.

Late night attacks

DNA was twice recovered from crime scenes but, despite being known to police as a potential sexual attacker following a 1995 charge of indecent assault, no DNA sample was collected from Reid.

The children's football coach was acquitted of the charge in 1995, but remained on the police database.

Reid's victims ranged in age from late teens to their early 60s and all of his victims were strangers who were walking alone, late at night.

In most cases, the victims were grabbed from behind and forced to the ground.

These attacks took place between August 2001 and October 2007.

Previous reporting bans on the case were lifted with his convictions.

He also admitted two further charges of indecent assault and was found not guilty of one charge of indecent assault.