The victim of a rapist who preyed on women leaving Brixton Tube station has spoken of her pain after seeing her attacker jailed.

Daniel Wellington from Oakfield Road, Croydon, was sentenced yesterday for one count of rape and two sexual assaults carried out on the same night in January 2006.

The 43-year-old was also sentenced at Inner London Crown Court for two counts of abduction and three counts of robbery in the Brixton area.

Wellington, who was found guilty of the crimes on October 4 last year, will serve 12 years for the rape, five years for each of the robberies and three years for the sexual assault.

The court had heard how Wellington approached his first victim, a 26-year-old woman, in Efra Road after she left Brixton's underground station at around 6.30pm on January 2.

He asked the woman for a light for his cigarette and then armed with a gun sexually assaulted and robbed her.

Less than two hours later Wellington, who was outside Brixton Tube station, abducted a 27-year-old woman and took her to a car park in Tunstall Road, Brixton, and raped and robbed her.

The victim told Wellington she needed to go to the toilet - and the pair went to a nearby McDonald's restaurant.

Once there the victim locked herself in the toilet and began to shout for help causing Wellington to flee. She told the restaurant's staff she thought he would kill her.

A police officer, who had heard Wellington's description on his radio, spotted the rapist in Coldharbour Road at around 9.30pm. He had just approached another woman to ask her for a light.

Wellington was also charged with an attack on a 25-year-old woman in Electric Avenue, Brixton on Boxing Day 2005.

Speaking after the trial Wellington's second victim said: "I wanted to help police as much as possible to catch the man who raped me. This meant showing officers where it happened and reliving the whole thing when I gave them my statement. I was also asked to view an identification video to see if I recognised a man that had been arrested. Seeing the face of the man who raped me staring out made me feel sick.

"Since the attack, it has been necessary for me to take sleeping tablets in order to sleep, although these do not help me escape the nightmares that have occurred every single night. From being an outgoing confident person, I no longer go out at night on my own, and even when with other people, I insist on crossing the road when I see someone that looks similar to the man who raped me."

Detective Constable Graham Sandercock explained the centre of Brixton had been left in chaos on the day of the attacks as officers attempted to investigate the different crime scenes.

He said: "As well as the crime scenes, we had three very traumatised victims and numerous members of the public who had witnessed various parts of the incidents to deal with.

"It was thanks to control room staff, uniformed police officers, photographers and scenes of crime officers and specially trained Sapphire officers all working as a team that night and in the lead up to the trial that this extremely dangerous man was detained and successfully prosecuted.

"There was huge relief when Wellington was caught as goodness knows what else he might have done that night. And it has meant the victims have been able to see their attacker brought to justice speedily.

"We can assure all victims of sexual assault that we will support you throughout the process. If anyone has any allegations, they should contact their nearest police station."