A man has been sentenced to 14 years in prison for raping two women and sexually assaulting a third.

Norfolk Police said Connor Yaxley attacked the women while they slept.

The 30-year-old, of Sandown Road, Great Yarmouth, was found guilty of five counts of rape and one count of sexual assault after a trial at Norwich Crown Court and was sentenced on Friday.

One of his victims described him as the “bogeyman.”

Police said that in one case, a woman woke up to find the accused raping her. Yaxley claimed that he did not remember anything and that he must have been dreaming at the time.

Another woman was raped at his address when she refused to have sex with him, detectives said, and claimed he raped her while she slept on previous occasions.

He sexually assaulted the third woman while she was sleeping on a couch in her home, the force added.

The crimes took place between 2017 and 2020.

In a victim impact statement read in court, one woman said: “I feel like I have a boogeyman constantly on my shoulder, like a phantom fear that’s hard to explain.

“I still can’t sleep through the night.”

Yaxley was also sentenced to an additional eight years on extended license following his prison sentence.

He will be on the Sex Offenders Register and subject to a lifelong sexual harm prevention order.

Following the sentencing, investigating officer Det Con Dylan Thomas urged other victims of sexual offenses to report them to the police.

The force said the Harbor Centre, the county’s sexual assault referral centre, could be contacted free of charge on 01603 276381.