One of his traumatised victims described his behaviour as ‘violent and nasty’, a court heard

A serial rapist who targeted two girls during “violent and nasty” sexual behaviour was branded by one of the traumatised victims as her “absolute worst nightmare”. The sexual abuse from Dillon Prest had “long-lasting consequences” for one of the girls and the other believed that he “stole” her life from her through his behaviour, Hull Crown Court heard.

Prest, 32, formerly of Bransholme, Hull, admitted five offences of rape of a child under 13 and one of sexual assault. He pleaded guilty on the day of a scheduled trial.

Soheil Khan, prosecuting, said that Prest targeted two young girls during a series of incidents where he intimately touched them or raped them. One of the girls described his behaviour as “violent and nasty” towards her.

She was “kicking and screaming” during one attack. “She was trying to push him off but he was shoving her with his body,” said Mr Khan. “He grabbed her arms to make sure she could not move.”

She later said that Prest’s behaviour had a “huge impact” on her. “This abuse turned me into someone I barely recognise,” she said. She had suffered anxiety, panic attacks and depression.

“He became my absolute worst nightmare,” she said. “He put me through hell. I don’t believe that he has ever cared about what he did.

“I did nothing to deserve any of this. He has taken everything away from me. This has had long-lasting consequences. What he did has affected every part of my life.”

The other girl said: “He didn’t just impact my life. He stole it from me. My life has been altered significantly.” She told Prest: “I feel like my entire life has been dictated by you in some way or another.”

Prest had a previous warning for sexual assault in 2006 and he had previous convictions, including for assault and theft. “There has been no sexual offending since,” said Mr Khan.

David Godfrey, mitigating, said that Prest accepted his guilt, although it was late in the day, and so saved the victims from the ordeal of their evidence being challenged during a trial. “He is genuine in his regret for what he did,” said Mr Godfrey.

“He does feel deep, deep shame for his behaviour and the effect it has caused. He wants to say that he is sorry and he knows that what he did was awful and has had a lasting effect.

“He accepted in clear terms that what he did was wrong. It’s his fault. He caused that to happen.”

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Prest had been living in Scotland for about 10 years. He had struggled with drugs abuse earlier in his life.

Prest, recently of Black Street, Airdrie, Lanarkshire, Scotland, was jailed for four years and he must register as a sex offender indefinitely. He had been on bail until the day of sentence.

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