A convicted rapist who targeted vulnerable young people to violently mug after dark has been branded a public danger and sentenced to an extended nine-year prison sentence.

Drug addict Gary Williams, who was notorious for aggressive begging and nuisance behaviour in Bradford city centre, will spend six years behind bars and an extra three years being closely monitored on special licence.

Williams, 53, of Ringwood Road, Canterbury, Bradford, was convicted by a jury at Bradford Crown Court yesterday afternoon of two street robberies. A further similar robbery charge was left on the court file after the jury failed to reach a verdict.

Judge Jonathan Durham Hall QC found Williams in Contempt of Court for shouting insults at the jury from the dock and loudly calling the officer in the case a rude name.

He was sentenced to six months imprisonment, to run concurrently, for that offence. He refused to stay in court to be sentenced, demanding to be taken back down to the cells.

Williams and two accomplices robbed Shaun Morrell who was waiting for a bus after work on Manningham Lane on the evening of February 18 last year.

Prosecutor Charlotte Eastwood said Williams hit the young man in the face while his two men held him down. Mr Morrell’s wallet containing £220 in cash was stolen.

Williams struck again five days later when he targeted Elizabeth Sau, a student at the University of Bradford. He seized her handbag in Merton Road, Little Horton, at 4am, dragging her to the ground and injuring her. Miss Sau lost money, her phone and identity documents.

The court was told that Williams was jailed for seven years in 1986 for rape, false imprisonment and causing actual bodily harm.

He also had three robbery convictions in a criminal record that included a string of thefts and burglaries and supplying heroin, in a total of 57 offences.

Williams, who was recently beaten up over a drug debt, refused to co-operate with doctors so that a psychiatric assessment could be prepared for the court.

He continually shouted from the dock during his trial, claiming the allegations were a conspiracy against him. Judge Durham Hall ruled that Williams presented “a most significant risk” of causing members of the public serious harm.

“This is a truly unrepentant, antisocial individual,” he said.