Shoe rapist case examined in TV crime documentary

THE case of a multiple rapist who attacked women in Rotherham and kept his victims' shoes will be examined in a TV documentary this weekend.
Some of the shoes Lloyd took as trophies and (inset) Lloyd's police mugshot.Some of the shoes Lloyd took as trophies and (inset) Lloyd's police mugshot.
Some of the shoes Lloyd took as trophies and (inset) Lloyd's police mugshot.

Written In Blood, airing on CBS Reality this Sunday, takes a fresh look at the case of Shoe Rapist James Lloyd, through the eyes of top crime fiction writer Peter James, whose novel Dead Like You was inspired by the case.

Lloyd, then 50, sobbed in court as he was jailed for life in 2006 and told he would spend at least 14-and-a-half-years in jail after admitting four rapes and two attempted rapes, although this was later cut to seven years and 263 days.

Police said they believed Lloyd, from Thurnscoe, may have had as many as 120 victims.

Judge Alan Goldsack QC described the assaults as every woman's nightmare, adding: “They are terrifying offences—set upon by a stranger while walking home, with no help available and not knowing whether the assault will end with sexual degradation or go further.”

Lloyd, a father of three, carried out his attacks in the 1980s in the Dearne Valley where he grew up and lived all his life.

Although he worked at the Dearne Valley Printworks for more than 30 years, progressing from apprentice to manager, he took on a second job as a taxi driver to mask the real reason he was stalking the streets.

Prosecutor, Mr Jeremy Baker QC, told how Lloyd grabbed lone women from behind as they walked alone in Rotherham or Barnsley, including in Kimberworth and Herringthorpe.

After dragging them into secluded areas, he tied their hands behind their back and gagged them with tights or stockings before sexually assaulting them.

Lloyd was finally unmasked after a DNA genetic search linked evidence left at crime scenes with his sister, who had been convicted of a drink-driving offence.

When police searched his home in Howell Gardens, Thurnscoe, and his office, they found hundreds of stiletto-heel shoes.

A document entitled The Perfect Victim, detailing rapes identical to those committed by Lloyd, was also found.

When he was eventually arrested, he told officers: “I knew that was coming. I was a bastard 20 years ago.”

The documentary features interviews with former detectives and forensic experts, as well as ex-Advertiser crime reporter Phil Turner (pictured below).

Peter James said: “As a crime novelist, I am intrigued by seemingly ‘normal’ people who do terrible things. 

“Many of our worst monsters don’'t walk around with the words ‘rapist’ or ‘serial killer’ tattooed on their foreheads — they wear suits and spectacles, they are often successful professionals or businessmen, most of them with adoring wives and children, and viewed by their friends and neighbours as pillars of their community. 

“The James Lloyd story appealed to me for a number of reasons. 

“As with all my books, I wanted to try to explore the subject of rape from all perspectives, from that of the perpetrator, the victim and the police — and this case, with the odd fetish of the shoes, ticked all the boxes.”

Written In Blood airs on Sunday at 10pm on CBS Reality