A violent rapist who tried to gouge the eyes of one of his victims has been jailed for at least eight years.

Pedro Antonio Baptista Boieiro, 28, a Portuguese national of Brigstock Road, Thornton Heath, was sentenced at Croydon Crown Court yesterday (June 27) for one count of rape and two of attempted rape.

The three attacks, all of whom were on women after they had got off the 250 bus route between Brixton and Thornton Heath, involved serious physical assault on women, with Boieiro punching all of them in the face and even trying to gouge the eyes of one victim.

He pleaded guilty to all three charges on Thursday, May 26.

The first assault was the attempted rape of a 29-year-old woman on Sunday, December 20, 2015, at about 10.40pm in Challis Way, SW2.

Boieiro repeatedly punched the woman before trying to pull her trousers down but witnesses heard her screams and Boieiro ran away. His DNA was later found on the woman’s clothes.

Just hours later, at about 1am, Boieiro struck again in Covington Way, Streatham, following a 20-year-old woman down an alleyway, punching her to the floor and raping her.

His DNA was found, and he also revealed to the victim his name was Antonio.

His third attack was on Wednesday, March 23, at about 2.30am in Granville Gardens, Norbury, when a 22-year-old woman was punched to the ground by Boieiro after she got off the bus.

He gouged her eyes and tried to remove her clothes, but her cries for help were heard by people living nearby and Boieiro ran away.

Police were unable to identify the rapist from DNA evidence as there was no match in the national database but detectives identified Boieiro by his Oyster card after examining CCTV footage from the bus and he was arrested at home.

DC Ben Hawkins, from the Met's Serious Sexual Offences Exploitation Unit, said: "Boieiro was a predatory offender who deliberately targeted and then stalked females whilst they were at their most vulnerable.

"He used violence to subdue them and it was fortunate that he was disturbed by members of the public alerted by shouts from two of the victims.

"The victims have been left traumatised by what has happened to them. They have shown immense courage in coming forward and I am thankful for the trust they have placed in us to investigate these crimes."