Neil Trennan had previously hit a woman with a brick while of day release when he was let out again only to attack a student in her own home with a knife
A convicted rapist attacked a student with a knife after he persuaded the Parole Board to grant him day release by completing prison sex offender programmes.
Neil Trennan, 61, was handed his third life sentence on Wednesday after he followed the terrified woman into her home with the intent to commit “violent rape” while on unaccompanied leave from jail. Trennan was previously convicted of hitting a woman with a brick in a public toilet while again on day release in 2002.
Judge Jeremy Richardson KC, told Sheffield Crown Court this week that it would likely never be safe for the serial sex offender to be released, adding that he had “been given no adequate explanation for the decision” to let him out alone. Judge Richardson has written to the Justice Secretary to highlight his concerns about the Parole Board’s decision to move Trennan to open conditions.
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A summary of Trennan’s most recent application to officials states: “Evidence was presented in the dossier regarding Mr Trennan’s progress and custodial conduct during this sentence. He had undertaken accredited programmes to address sex offending.
“The panel read how well Mr Trennan had demonstrated application of relevant skills and learning while in custody.” The document, written two months after his latest offences, reveals he was not deemed fit for a return to open conditions.
It said his “risk factors” included “thinking he had a right to have sex as and when he wanted”, a willingness to use violence and weapons, and failing to consider the consequences of his actions.
Trennan had already been serving two life sentences, one for raping a woman in 1991 after breaking into her Sheffield home and knocking her unconscious with a weight lifting dumbbell.
In 2002 he escaped from custody while on day release and attacked a woman with a brick in a public toilet in Norwich. Trennan had been convicted of a number of offences in the 1980s and 1990s, including three indecent assaults.
He had looked through bedroom windows, broken into women’s homes on and chased a woman Trennan told a prison psychologist in 2015 that he had enjoyed the “fear he is able to see in victims’ eyes” and had a sexual interest in violence and, the court heard. Sheffield Crown Court heard this week that Trennan had absconded from HMP North Sea Camp, an open prison in Lincolnshire, on the day of the latest attack in July.
Speaking to Trennan, who attended the court by video link, the victim said in an impact statement: “Even when I looked at you in the eyes full of fear you showed no emotion, when I tried to fight you off you got more forceful and angrier. You never cared, I was just another crime to you.”
Jailing him for a minimum of 10 years, Judge Richardson KC said Trennan was a “sexual deviant … aroused by sexual violence”, describing it as “astonishing” he was allowed to leave the prison unsupervised.
Prosecutor Gordon Stables said Trennan had admitted following the woman “after seeing her in the street and targeted her… intending to commit a violent rape”.
The woman had gone into her home when she heard her front door open and close and assumed it was her housemate. While changing for a shower she found Trennan in a spare bedroom, where he claimed to be “lost”.
Trennan then said “sorry” before launching his attack, touching her, pulling out a kitchen knife and “trying to force her down to the floor”, Mr Stables said.
He said the woman managed to fight him off, knocking the blade out of his hand before locking herself in another room. Trennan was arrested three days later.
A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: “These were horrendous crimes and our thoughts remain with all the victims affected. Neil Trennan has rightly received the full weight of the law for his actions.
“We will carefully consider the judge’s comments once we receive his letter and are clear that we want to fully understand what happened in this case, including whether any processes or policies need to be strengthened.”
