Openshaw rapist's 'unduly lenient' prison sentence increased

A rapist who police said spiked and preyed upon four women has had his prison sentence extended.

Greater Manchester Police said Steven Evans, 33, gave the women "what he called 'magic'" and then raped them while they were unconscious or asleep.

He was jailed for 24 years at Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court.

But Evans, of Openshaw, has now been handed an additional six years after the case was reviewed under the Unduly Lenient Sentences scheme.

During the attacks, Evans left his victims with damage to their bodies "in horrific ways" and also took photos and videos of them without their knowledge or consent.

Det Sgt Natasha Feerick, from Greater Manchester Police (GMP), said: "The severity of Steven Evans' crimes cannot be understated.

"I sincerely hope that the extended 30-year custodial sentence with a further eight-year extended licence brings all his victims and the public reassurance that justice will prevail."

The force said the investigation into Evans began in December 2022 after one of the women found images of him sexually assaulting her on a mobile phone.

GMP said she told officers she could not remember the photos being taken, but recalled a "catalogue of incidents where she had woken up with intimate body parts hurting".

She said when she told Evans, he laughed at her and dissuaded her from going to hospital.

Officers then spoke to a second woman, who, the force said, told them that she was raped and sexually assaulted, and believed she was spiked by Evans.

She also told police he would pressure her into sex and "coerced her, threatening to harm himself if she ever left".

She too discovered similar "disturbing, explicit images she couldn't recall being taken".

Two further women identified by officers said they had been spiked by Evans at a house party.

Evans was arrested on 8 March and officers found 61 photographs and 35 videos that confirmed more than 25 separate non-consensual sexual encounters.

He was also found to have searched online for the definition of the sleep disorder sexsomnia and for conditions and diseases that "make you sleep".

He denied rape, sexual assault and administering a noxious substance, but was found guilty of all 37 counts he faced.

Evans was also handed an extended eight-year licence period on top of his sentence, placed on the sex offenders register for life, and made the subject of a restraining order.

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