TWO detectives have won a judge's praise for their actions in catching a rapist who twice targeted women on their own at night.

Romanian national Alexandru Daniel Calin, 29, is facing deportation after he finishes a 12-year extended prison sentence.

York Crown Court sitting in Bradford heard how he selected his first victim less than a month after arriving in Scarborough.

He then avoided police checks on him and raped a second woman.

She told the court "I have lost all my confidence and I don't feel safe out on my own.

"This has had a massive effect not only on me, but my family members.

"There is a stigma attached to that type of offence."

Calin was a registered sex offender when he raped her because he had sexually assaulted another woman a year earlier.

"The circumstances (of the sexual assault) are particularly troubling given its similarities targeting a lone woman at night," said Judge Simon Hickey.

Calin had deliberately prevented police from knowing where he was at the time of the rape by not registering his address.

The judge commended Det Inspector Jonathan Sygrove and Det Sgt John Owens of North Yorkshire Police for their work in bringing Calin to justice.

Det Sgt Owens said: “Calin is a dangerous individual who left the victim petrified in her own home.

"I am pleased that the sentence handed down reflects the gravity of the offence.

“This investigation has been a detailed and thorough investigation by the wider CID team and I would like to thank everyone involved for the work they have done to bring Calin to justice.

“No jail sentence can ever undo the suffering that the victim has endured but I want to praise her for having the bravery and strength to come forward and I hope it brings her some comfort that justice has been done, and she can now start to rebuild her life.”

Prosecution barrister Paul Abrahams told the court how police had trawled through a large volume of CCTV to identify the rapist and managed to arrest him within two days.

Calin, of Crown Terrace, Scarborough, pleaded guilty to rape and failure to comply with the sex offender register rules.

The judge declared that Calin would pose a significant risk of causing serious harm to women in future.

He was jailed for nine years, plus three years' extended orison licence and made subject to a sexual harm prevention order, banning him from contacting the rape victim for life.

He was also put on the sex offenders register for life.

The court heard the Home Office will almost certainly order his deportation at the end of his sentence.

Mr Abrahams said the rape victim had been unsteady on her feet and clearly in drink when she was looking for a taxi to go home in the early hours of October 27.

Calin had come up to her and tried to kiss her despite her insisting that she didn't want him to.

He then accompanied her home and raped her at her front door.

For Calin, David Camidge said he didn't know why he had done it, but he had been drinking.

He had been teetotal in the year between the two sex attacks, and now planned to never drink again.