Share this @internewscast.com
NAKED and unconscious, a young blonde girl is dragged across a concrete patio by her legs before being dumped into a hot tub and brutally raped.
Sick predator Craig France filmed the shocking assault, but like most of his unwitting victims this girl has no memory of her harrowing ordeal.
Night after night he would prowl nightclubs and bars, preying on the drunkest girls he could find – many of them still in their teens.
He’d then lead the staggering women into a taxi, having booked it himself so they would not know his address.
In his Peterborough house, Cambridgeshire, France, 34, would supply the girls with more alcohol and secretly film himself engaging in sexual acts with them while they were semi-conscious or asleep.
His drinks cabinet was filled with bottles of spirits and alcopops to ensure they remained unaware, and he blacked out every window to prevent his victims from knowing whether it was day or night outside.
France set up a network of 10 hidden cameras throughout his home and garden, with devices in his bedroom and one permanently focused on his outdoor hot tub.
He amassed hours of stomach-churning footage which eventually helped police snare him when a brave young woman came forward last September reporting France for rape.
He was jailed for 10 years in March, but cops fear there could be thousands more victims who have no idea that former lorry driver France ever attacked them.
It’s believed France had been committing his sinister crimes – laid bare in the latest episodes of 24 Hours in Police Custody, along with footage from his sick cache of home videos – for years before the full force of the law caught up with him.
Speaking exclusively to The Sun, DCI Helen Tebbit from the Cambridgeshire Police Rape Investigation Team said: “They are the actions of a sexual predator, it’s the worst I’ve seen in 20 years of policing.”
The documentary reveals how detectives began their wide-reaching investigation after receiving a distressing 999 call from a woman who said Craig raped her two years earlier.
She had believed they were pals, and it quickly emerged that sleazy France was renowned for the notorious parties he hosted, with a reputation for picking up girls at his favourite haunt, Flares Peterborough.
DCI Tebbit explained: “He is very well known in the nightlife scene in Peterborough, they know he’s a nice guy – he buys loads of drinks, encourages them to come back to his house where he’d have parties.
“This is the way in which he operates.
“But what he has recorded and documented are not the actions of someone who should be trusted.
“He targets young girls only just old enough to drink – all of them saw him as a friend.”
He targets young girls only just old enough to drink – all of them saw him as a friend
DCI Tebbit
In devastating footage from her first police interview the young girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons, attempted to recall hazy memories of the night at France’s house.
Shaking and clutching a cuddly toy whale, she said: “He had a charm about him, very friendly and outgoing.
“I went to his house because I trusted him. I just thought he was my friend.
“He got some Sambuca out of the fridge, I did one shot and after that I felt like I was becoming less aware. It was almost like I wasn’t in my mind or body properly.
“All I remember is being in a hot tub. I’m not sure how I ended up there.
The confused victim went on: “Then I woke up in the bed. I didn’t have any clothes on which was scary for me – I never undress around people.
“He was in the bathroom washing himself because he had blood on him. That’s when I realised I was bleeding.
“I’ve literally never been the same since it happened, I’ve gone downhill.”
Sinister obsession
Police were unable to confirm whether she had been spiked, but following her damning testimony they brought France in for questioning and conducted a search of his home, where they discovered restraints attached to his bed and a huge collection of sex toys.
There were also love letters, including one from a girl telling him she was leaving school in six months, as well as more than 70 bottles of nasal spray and a huge sign saying Get Naked.
The search also revealed his sinister obsession with hidden recording devices.
Officers found more than 6,000 images and videos of unidentified women secretly filmed at his home between March 2022 and September 2023.
Crucially, cops found the key video which showed the woman who’d come forward, barely able to stand, being dragged from the garden to the bathroom and being raped on his bed while she appeared “lifeless”.
He could be heard creepily whispering: “You look so beautiful.”
Even hardened veteran investigators were stunned by what they saw.
DCI Tebbit told us: “It is really incredibly shocking to watch.”
Her investigation then took a fresh twist when an online report landed from a second woman claiming France assaulted her too.
She told detectives: “This happened a while ago but I’ve just got the courage to tell it.
“This man that I slept with, he did video it and I was too drunk to realise. His name is Craig France.”
During a police interview she explained: “I classed him as a good friend.
“He seemed very nice, he was always offering to buy people drinks.
“He’d get people from the club to go back to his – always him that ordered the taxis.
I woke up in the bed. I didn’t have any clothes on which was scary for me – I never undress around people
Victim
“I’ve only ever been there when I’ve been drunk, I don’t know the address. He didn’t seem threatening at all.
“He was very arms open, inviting people back to his for after parties.
“He definitely planned who he was going to befriend or bring back home, he’d look for the girls who were more drunk than others.
“He definitely knew what he was doing when it came to taking women back home. He was always encouraging people to drink more when they were already really drunk.
“We’d get into the hot tub and carry on drinking until we couldn’t drink more, pass out basically.
“Then he started to act a bit weird – his whole character changed – really pushy, always talking about sex all the time. He’d walk around his house naked with his penis out.
“He showed me a video of another girl and I said, ‘Turn that off, that’s disgusting, does she know?’
“He said no and my heart dropped to my stomach and I had to report it.”
With two similar stories, the team scrambled to find more evidence to charge France.
Combing his laptop and phone for further clues, cops discovered France bragged about his exploits to a Whatsapp group of friends and even close relatives.
In one revolting message he wrote: “We f*** then she feels like she’s gonna be sick, then we f*** again. It’s a vicious circle which I enjoy.”
One of his pals commented on a video: “It looks like a classic rape scene, blood, she is out of it.”
It is incredibly rare to have crimes documented to this extent. My only thought is that he kept them for his own sexual gratification and to show off
DCI Tebbit
Appalled DCI Tebbit told us: “As a human, as a member of society, it really is quite horrifying when you look at the context of his messages and photos that were shared between him and his friends.
“None of them are of the view that there was a problem. Some of them are joking that it looks like a rape scene – that’s because it was.
“The fact that we have individuals in our society who find that acceptable is really disturbing.
“It is incredibly rare to have crimes documented to this extent. My only thought is that he kept them for his own sexual gratification and to show off.
“It’s ironic that he claimed the recordings could prove the sex was consensual, when in fact they did the opposite.”
Vile cache
In one of his pathetic police interviews France attempted to defend himself by claiming that sex with the first victim was consensual, but DCI Tebbit observed: “There’s no way she’s got capacity to consent to anything.
“She’s completely out of it. That shows she was completely incapable, that cannot be considered consensual based on the video – she was in no state to consent to anything. That’s really damning.
“He deliberately targeted very young women as it may not have taken as much to get them intoxicated. He was using their age as a vulnerability.”
“It was almost like a David Attenborough documentary, watching every single thing he has done in the four walls of his house,” she added.
Cops also downloaded more than 10,000 photos from France’s phone, proving how prolific his attacks have been.
Another veteran officer, Detective Mark Hodgson, remarked: “In 15 years I’ve not seen anything close to this. He’s done it for a long time and it’s a way of life.”
It also emerged that France was expelled from school for touching other children, and has a history of exposing himself in public places.
In 15 years I’ve not seen anything close to this. He’s done it for a long time and it’s a way of life
Detective Mark Hodgson
The squad then faced the monumental challenge of identifying the girls in Craig’s repulsive video library – and then not only breaking the devastating news that they had been raped, but also showing them the actual footage of what happened.
One stunned victim said: “ I was in shock because I had no idea at all. My mind is spinning, I want answers to all my questions.
“It made me angry seeing those videos. He took everything from me and the rest of the girls. He took our dignity.
“We won’t be able to trust a man ever again, won’t be able to feel comfortable in our bodies ever again.”
After watching the video of herself being assaulted, another victim said: “My heart just dropped.
“I felt so much shame, embarrassment, disgusted, but I was more upset about the fact I could have been friends with someone like that.
“There’s no excuse, no justification. Everyone he’s done this to has to fight to carry on.
“It’s always going to be with me, that sort of thing doesn’t go away.”
‘Deplorable predator’
France was sentenced to 10 years and seven months in prison after dramatically pleading guilty before his trial was due to start.
He was convicted of a string of offences including rape, sexual assault, voyeurism and exposure.
Prosecutor Andrew Young said: “Craig France is a deplorable predator who targeted young women and established their trust, before ruthlessly exploiting them.
“France built up an extensive set of images, all kept for his own sexual gratification. He and he alone is to blame for his disgusting offending.”
The judge added that France posed a “toxic risk” to society.
Speaking ahead of tonight’s documentary, DCI Tebbit said: “This programme will show that sexual predators can cleverly disguise their depraved behaviours – victims may not realise they are being groomed.
“France portrayed himself as everyone’s best friend – caring, fun, and provided what his victims thought was a safe place to party.
“But in reality he preyed on young women who had barely entered adulthood for his own sexual gratification.”
Since the verdict nine more women have come forward – but DCI Tebbit added: “It haunts me that we’ll never know the full extent of what his offending has been.
“We can’t assume that the digital evidence we have is everything that could have ever happened.
“Just because we have a significant volume, that doesn’t mean every offence has been recorded so this is an ongoing investigation.
“We don’t know the full extent of his offending. There could be further victims.
“We are keen to hear from anybody who may have been affected.”
Part one of 24 Hours in Police Custody airs tonight at 9pm, with the second instalment on Monday July 7 at 9pm on Channel 4.
