‘Charming, cheeky' — and possibly one of Britain's most prolific rapists

Times

10 hours ago

Everyone who met Craig France said what a nice, friendly young man he was.
Each weekend, France was surrounded by friends at bars and nightclubs in Peterborough, where he was known for being fun and popular. When the night was over, he would invite everybody back to his house to continue the party.
In March, France, 34, a lorry driver, pleaded guilty to one count of rape, plus counts of sexual assault, voyeurism and exposure, and was sentenced to ten years and seven months in jail. The offences were carried out between 2022 and 2023.
Police fear there could be many, many more victims in Peterborough, and elsewhere. He typically targeted the same type — teenage girls of around 18, usually petite, who were often only just discovering clubbing and drinking culture.
Police found cameras positioned around his home and in the garden, including a GoPro. On it they discovered video of France dragging an unconscious teenager out of his hot tub and across the concrete garden path by her legs, before raping her. 'You look so beautiful,' he said, as he pulled her body along the ground.
After his arrest in September, detectives discovered more than 6,000 graphic sexual videos and photographs of women on his mobile phone and other digital devices, recorded in his home in the Cambridgeshire city between 2022 and 2024.
Police fear they will never know the total number of victims and are highlighting the case in a two-part special of 24 Hours in Police Custody, which will be broadcast on Sunday on Channel 4.
Detective Chief Inspector Helen Tebbit, who led the investigation for Cambridgeshire police, said: 'I've been in the police for nearly 20 years and worked as a detective in vulnerability crime for over ten years. In that time, this stands out as a unique and horrific case. I don't think I'll ever see anything quite like it again.'
Plying victims with spiked drinks
France was not an obvious perpetrator; he was quietly spoken and went out of his way to appear kind and non-threatening. He groomed the teenagers in clubs and bars in Peterborough, acting like a friend, adding them on Snapchat and building their trust. France, who looks young for his age, offered them advice about relationships and fallings-out with friends and made them laugh, all while plying them with huge quantities of alcohol.
'Of every person we've spoken to, nobody said that Craig France was a horrible person,' Tebbit said.
France has been convicted of the rape of only one victim: Abby, 22, spoke to The Sunday Times under a false name to protect her anonymity.
They met at an ice-skating rink in Peterborough in 2021, when she was 18 and in a relationship with a woman. 'He came across quite charming but a bit cheeky and overly generous,' she said. 'I had a weird feeling around him but I convinced myself I was just being anxious. I should have trusted my gut more.'
Abby's relationship ended the following year and, feeling isolated, she started texting France. She said he was 'really supportive — we'd talk about the relationship and he'd make jokes, just like a friend would. He seemed to have my back. He said things about my other friends — like that they should be there for me more.'
Abby began to trust him and accepted an invitation to a gathering at France's house in September. She was a keen guitar player and he promised he could teach her to be as good as he was. He told her his friends were going to come around. She was told not to eat beforehand as they would order a takeaway.
When she arrived, he offered her a Koppaberg cider, which she drank, and then a shot of sambuca, which she refused. 'He called me a pussy, so I said if he put a little bit of lemonade in it, I would. He did, so I drank it,' Abby said.
She has no recollection of the rest of that night, aside from 'being in his hot tub, trying to look at my phone but I couldn't really tell what was going on'. She believes the sambuca was spiked
The next morning, she woke to a horrifying scene. She was in France's bed, naked, despite not usually feeling comfortable undressing in front of people. She could see him in his bathroom, washing blood off himself. Abby knew she had been raped but was afraid and thought that nobody would believe her. 'I panicked, so I pretended to be asleep,' she said. Later, France drove her home.
She said: 'I thought about it every single day. You start to feel really guilty because you feel like by not saying anything, you're a part of the problem.'
Over the following days, Abby texted France explaining that she did not want to see him again. 'I said I felt really uncomfortable and didn't remember anything, but that I wouldn't make anything awkward,' she said. He responded: 'It's like you're making it sound like I'm a predator. It takes two to tango.'
Two years later, in August 2024, after hearing that an intimate video of was circulating and learning that a friend had also been assaulted by France, Abby reported the rape to the police. He was arrested.
When searching his home, detectives found video of the events she had described and timestamps which corroborated her account.
Women may not know they are victims
Detectives who reviewed graphic video and photographs of numerous women, many of whom are still unidentified, are fearful about the full extent of France's crimes. He used dating apps and travelled across the country in his job as a lorry driver, transporting cars, and data showed he had been in London and other locations. Additional cameras were found in his lorry, but police were unable to recover videos from them.
'It's very difficult to be able to put a number on how many individuals that could be still to come,' Tebbit said. 'We are open to the potential that there could have been offending committed in places all over the country.'
The nature of France's offending means that many women may not even know they are victims. In much of the footage, women had been plied with alcohol and appear to be asleep or unconscious while he performs sexual acts on them.
One is Leona, 28, who first met France ten years ago on a night out in Bedford when she was 18.
Until 2020, France was somebody she had 'chatted to for a bit, thought he was all right, but didn't think anything about it,' she said. Then, he messaged her 'out of the blue on Snapchat' which turned into 'a constant back and forth for a few months and then daily video calls. It got to a point where it seemed like we were going to end up in a relationship but I cut it off because I wanted to get back with my ex,' she said. 'It wasn't until 2022 that we ended up speaking again. And that's when that night happened.'
The pair went ice skating in Peterborough, had dinner and then went out for drinks with France's brother and some friends and went clubbing, before going back to France's house.
TERRY HARRIS FOR THE SUNDAY TIMES
'I never thought that anything untoward happened that evening,' Leona said. 'It never occurred to me that anything like that could have happened.' The pair did not meet up again, though she saw him with mutual friends on a few occasions.
In November 2024, Leona was contacted out of the blue by Cambridgeshire police. They told her they were investigating France for rape and voyeurism, and were in possession of a number of videos which they believed included her. 'I had no idea that this had happened to me,' she said.
Cameras were found across France's property, both inside and outside
CHANNEL 4 / 24HRS IN POLICE CUSTODY
In the videos, Leona was visibly drunk while France moved her into different positions and took intimate videos of her. She was crying and telling him she was in pain and feeling sick.
While seeing the footage was a shock, Leona 'wasn't overly shocked that it was Craig. As much as he came across as a nice guy to start with, if he was going to get into some sort of trouble, it would be to do with this sort of area,' she said. 'I just didn't know that it would be something like that and that it would involve me. I was angry with him because we had been very close. It made me feel horrible.'
Leona, who spoke in the hope of encouraging other women to come forward, said France would 'buy big bottles of Disaronno [an Italian liqueur] and hand drinks out to everyone, but more so towards groups of girls. He was very charismatic. He could chat to anyone. He was funny. He knew how to talk to people and make them feel comfortable with him.'
Craig France is interviewed by police following his arrest
Describing the impact of France's betrayal, Leona said she now struggles to trust men, even those she has known for a long time and who are close to her.
'If I'm getting changed in front of a guy and he's on his phone, I struggle with that. I know they won't be doing what he did, but it's difficult building trust with people because this was someone I knew closely. I keep beating myself up, saying that I'm an idiot for getting with someone like that. How could I have not seen that he could do something like this?'
At France's trial at Cambridge crown court in March, the judge described him as 'a misogynist predator and a toxic risk to women', but explained his guilty plea meant he was eligible for a reduced sentence of 10 years and 7 months, rather than the maximum sentence of 18 years and 7 months. France had no previous convictions aside from a historic driving offence, though police found he had been expelled from school after touching other pupils inappropriately in intimate areas, and pulling down girls' underwear.
Since France was sent to prison, new potential victims have come forward but Cambridgeshire police believe there may be many more.
'Craig France groomed his victims, everybody felt he was their friend and a person they could trust,' Tebbit said. 'He did all the things that a young woman would find attractive and friendly.'
During the interview process, France did not speak aside from repeating 'no comment' and has shown no remorse for his crimes. 'I'm not of the view that he's ever really accepted what he's done was wrong,' Tebbit said.
For Abby, the rape has caused her so much distress that she was unable to eat or drink and became physically ill, to the point of being hospitalised due to significant weight loss. She cut her hair off 'to look less feminine'.
'I stopped living completely,' she said. 'I stopped going out. I didn't want to leave the house. I'm terrified of everything and everyone really. It's a lot to carry. It eats you up in a way that is difficult to live with. I don't think it's ever going to go away.'