John Lambe otherwise known as the M5 Rapist was a British builder, lorry driver and serial rapist who, from 1975 until his arrest in 1980 was behind a string of sex attacks on women aged between 15-74 in the Bristol

Bristol

Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...

 and Taunton

Taunton

Taunton is the county town of Somerset, England. The town, including its suburbs, had an estimated population of 61,400 in 2001. It is the largest town in the shire county of Somerset....

 areas which adjoin the M5 motorway

M5 motorway

The M5 is a motorway in England. It runs from a junction with the M6 at West Bromwich near Birmingham to Exeter in Devon. Heading south-west, the M5 runs east of West Bromwich and west of Birmingham through Sandwell Valley...

 in South West England

South West England

South West England is one of the regions of England defined by the Government of the United Kingdom for statistical and other purposes. It is the largest such region in area, covering and comprising Bristol, Gloucestershire, Somerset, Dorset, Wiltshire, Devon, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly. ...

. He was arrested after the husbands of one of his victims recognised him and his vehicle leaving the scene of the crime in Taunton. In 1981 he was found guilty of twelve counts of rape and six charges of attempted rape and jailed for life. The prosecution at his trial alleged that the motivation for his crimes stemmed from a vitriolic hatred of the Police

Police

The police is a personification of the state designated to put in practice the enforced law, protect property and reduce civil disorder in civilian matters. Their powers include the legitimized use of force...

against whom he had waged a personal vendetta since a conviction for aggravated Burglary in 1975.