THE sister of serial sex attacker Antoni Imiela described her brother as "evil" last night after he was found guilty of a string of rapes.

Imiela's sister Jadwiga said she had looked up to her brother her whole life, until she heard how he attacked seven victims - the youngest only ten - during a year long reign of terror.

Imiela, a railway worker who grew up in Newton Aycliffe, County Durham, was sentenced to seven life sentences at Maidstone Crown Court, in Kent, after a seven-week trial.

Judge Justice Owen also sentenced him to a total of 29 years for the kidnap, attempted rape and indecent assault of a ten-year-old girl.

The 49-year-old, from Appledore, near Ashford, began his criminal career with a series of violent armed robberies in the North-East.

In February 1987, he burst into a post office in Darlington brandishing a sawn-off shotgun and threatened to "blow the heads off" two terrified women.

He also raided a post office in West Cornforth, another in his home town and a building society in Shildon, County Durham.

A judge jailed him for 14 years at Teesside Crown Court but he was freed after eight and soon began an even more terrifying crime spree.

Imiela was brought up in County Durham with his older brother, Andrew, and two younger sisters, Yvonne and Jadwiga.

Last night, Jadwiga, who still lives in Newton Aycliffe, said: "As the months have gone by I have slowly come to terms with his guilt, but it has been hard to accept.

"He is my older brother, the person I looked up to my whole life, and it is awful to realise he is capable of these things.

"I feel for the families of all the victims, the young girls and the young women. I don't know whether I will ever want to speak to or see Antoni again, at the moment I certainly don't.

"He has let me and the rest of his family down so badly and so horribly.

"When I read about what he had done to those girls, I think he must just be evil. I have asked myself if it just pure badness, or some kind of mental problems. It would be easier to accept if it was the latter."

Imiela's first girlfriend, teenage sweetheart Allyson Pletts, with whom he had a son, described him as jealous and possessive.

"If he thought I had spoken to another man or taken any interest in anyone else it would drive him mad," she said.

"He was paranoid and insecure. He claimed I cheated on him. His fists left me in pain and bruised."

Imiela's relationship with Allyson lasted until 1988 when he was jailed for the robberies.

"Despite everything he has done and the pain he caused us I still find it hard to imagine Toni as this crazed rapist," she said last night.

"It will always be impossible to accept this is the same person who shared our lives for so long."

Imiela had denied all the charges. But the jurors rejected his claim that he had been "fitted up".

They failed to reach verdicts on two charges of rape against an 18-year-old woman in Woking, Surrey, in July 2002. The judge ordered that they remain on file.

Imiela first struck in November 2001. By October the following year, he had attacked victims in Kent, Surrey, London and Hertfordshire.

Only days before his arrest "in a final act of defiance" he moved further afield, kidnapping a ten-year-old girl at knifepoint on the streets of Birmingham and subjecting her to a five-hour sex ordeal.

His attacks struck fear into women in southern England. The media dubbed him the "trophy rapist" because of the way he stole items of clothing from his victims.

In one attack, Imiela stole his victim's mobile phone and, as he walked away, used it to taunt her mother and sister about the rape.

Police launched the biggest manhunt since the Yorkshire Ripper and nearly 3,000 men gave DNA samples.

Imiela - who had no previous convictions for sex offences - was finally unmasked when a victim helped compile an "e-fit" of her attacker, which led to hundreds of calls, one of which finally put him in the frame.

Passing sentence, Judge Justice Owen said: "You are a ruthless sexual predator. Four of your victims were young girls, two aged ten, a 13-year-old and a 14-year-old.

"You subjected them to humiliating and degrading sexual acts culminating in rape."

The families of some of the victims burst into tears and hugged each other as the serial rapist was convicted of the first seven counts.

Imiela, clean shaven and in a smart grey suit, blue shirt and dark blue tie, showed no reaction throughout.