The serial sex attacker known as the 'Chiswick Rapist', whose horrifying spree of assaults terrorised women across West London in the mid-1990s, has died in prison. Carl Royal, 57, was serving three life sentences at the high-security HMP Wakefield when he died on November 24.
A Spree of Terror in West London
Royal's campaign of violence, which included three counts of rape, seven indecent assaults, and two burglaries, culminated in his arrest at his Hammersmith home in 1996. Upon his detention, he famously told police officers, "I can't help myself. I don't intend to rape people. I need a doctor to help myself."
His offending began much earlier, with an attack on a 13-year-old girl when he was just 20. However, his most intense period of attacks occurred in 1995 and 1996. In June 1995, aged 28, he wore a stocking mask, climbed through a window into the bedroom of a secretary in Hammersmith, and raped her.
Although arrested and DNA tested after this attack, a match was not immediately confirmed, reportedly due to the sample matching another male. This delay, as reported at the time by the Hounslow Chronicle, allowed Royal to strike again.
Failed by System, Victims Targeted Again
In January 1996, Royal grabbed a woman in Chiswick, dragged her into a garden, and raped her for 20 minutes. Merely three days later, he attacked a 26-year-old woman near Turnham Green station, holding a knife to her neck and threatening: "Do you feel this. Don't make any noise if you want to remain pretty." He then raped her in a garden.
During the sentencing hearing at the Old Bailey, the court heard how Royal's mood could shift dramatically. Prosecutor Mark Dennis stated that after attacking his third victim, Royal suddenly apologised, begged her not to tell police, and even offered her a gold pendant as a bribe.
His final arrest came after another attack in Shepherd's Bush, where fingerprints, specimens, and the distinctive pendant finally linked him conclusively to the earlier crimes. He later admitted to 12 charges.
Death in a Notorious Prison
The Prisons and Probation Ombudsman confirmed Royal's death at HMP Wakefield, a Category A facility in West Yorkshire that houses some of Britain's most dangerous criminals, including paedophile killers Sidney Cooke and Roy Whiting. An investigation into the cause of his death is currently underway.
At the time of his trial, his defence counsel described him as a loner consumed by deep shame. National newspaper reports claimed he had an "uncontrollable 'instinct' to rape" but left clues due to self-loathing. It was also reported he was often high on drugs and alcohol during the attacks and had been living in a hostel for recently released prisoners.
The death of Carl Royal closes a chapter on one of West London's most frightening crime sprees, a case that also exposed serious failings in forensic procedures of the era, with police at the time citing a bad description and insufficient DNA samples for the initial failure to stop him.
