Predator who tied up and raped girl, 14, on way home from bus stop is jailed for life

Shane Nash, 39, put tape around the girl's mouth and said "be quiet or I'll stab you", Nottingham Crown Court heard.

James Hockaday
Updated ·3-min read
Shane Nash. See SWNS story SWMRrape. A violent child rapist was caught after a passing police officer noticed his distinctive walk. Shane Nash, aged 39, was walking with two friends along Muirfield Road, Top Valley, on 31 January when he was spotted by an officer travelling in a marked patrol car. Two days earlier he had raped a teenage girl after grabbing her in a dark alleyway near Rise Park and threatening her. Parts of the attack were captured on CCTV and after viewing the footage the previous day, the officer’s eye was immediately drawn to Nash’s distinctive walking style and his high, square shoulders. Noticing that his clothing was also similar to that of the suspect, she and her colleague immediately turned around and asked Nash to stop. It soon became clear that he was also wearing the same clothes and distinctive grey trainers he was wearing at the time of the attack. Further damming evidence was found when officers searched his bag and uncovered a black beanie hat and red sleeping bag referred to by the victim. Nash, formerly of Boniface Gardens, Bestwood, was arrested on suspicion of rape but strenuously denied the allegations against him – even when confronted with irrefutable DNA evidence linking him to the crime.
Shane Nash, 39, denied responsibility even after his DNA linked him to the attack. (SWNS)

A “remorseless” rapist who tied up a schoolgirl as she walked home and threatened to stab her if she screamed has been jailed for life.

Shane Nash followed the 14-year-old girl after she left her best friend at a bus stop in Top Valley, Nottingham, at 8.15 pm on 29 January.

A court heard how he dragged her down a dark alleyway before putting tape around her mouth so tightly she could hardly breathe.

As she was screaming, Nash, 39, said "be quiet or I'll stab you" before tying her wrists together and saying: "I bet you wish you had never left your friend.”

When she begged to be let go and promised she wouldn't say anything Nash replied: "That's what they all say."

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Shane Nash's distinctive walk captured on CCTV at the time of the rape, two days before his arrest. See SWNS story SWMRrape. A violent child rapist was caught after a passing police officer noticed his distinctive walk. Shane Nash, aged 39, was walking with two friends along Muirfield Road, Top Valley, on 31 January when he was spotted by an officer travelling in a marked patrol car. Two days earlier he had raped a teenage girl after grabbing her in a dark alleyway near Rise Park and threatening her. Parts of the attack were captured on CCTV and after viewing the footage the previous day, the officer’s eye was immediately drawn to Nash’s distinctive walking style and his high, square shoulders. Noticing that his clothing was also similar to that of the suspect, she and her colleague immediately turned around and asked Nash to stop. It soon became clear that he was also wearing the same clothes and distinctive grey trainers he was wearing at the time of the attack. Further damming evidence was found when officers searched his bag and uncovered a black beanie hat and red sleeping bag referred to by the victim. Nash, formerly of Boniface Gardens, Bestwood, was arrested on suspicion of rape but strenuously denied the allegations against him – even when confronted with irrefutable DNA evidence linking him to the crime.
Nash's distinctive walk was captured on CCTV - helping a police officer spot him. (SWNS)

Nash then raped the "crying and hysterical" girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons, after dragging her to a grassy area in between two schools.

In a statement, the victim told Nottingham Crown Court how she has had trouble sleeping and suffers “bad dreams” since her ordeal.

She added: “I can’t help but sit and cry. It feels like it’s never going away. I hope he never walks the streets again. I never imagined it happening to me. What did I do to make him do this to me?”

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Nash was caught just two days after the attack, when a police officer happened to notice his distinctive walk from previous CCTV appeals and noticed he was wearing the same clothes.

Nash, formerly of Bestwood, Nottingham, was arrested on suspicion of rape but denied the allegations – even when DNA evidence linked him to the crime.

Shane Nash's distinctive walk captured on CCTV at the time of the rape, two days before his arrest. See SWNS story SWMRrape. A violent child rapist was caught after a passing police officer noticed his distinctive walk. Shane Nash, aged 39, was walking with two friends along Muirfield Road, Top Valley, on 31 January when he was spotted by an officer travelling in a marked patrol car. Two days earlier he had raped a teenage girl after grabbing her in a dark alleyway near Rise Park and threatening her. Parts of the attack were captured on CCTV and after viewing the footage the previous day, the officer’s eye was immediately drawn to Nash’s distinctive walking style and his high, square shoulders. Noticing that his clothing was also similar to that of the suspect, she and her colleague immediately turned around and asked Nash to stop. It soon became clear that he was also wearing the same clothes and distinctive grey trainers he was wearing at the time of the attack. Further damming evidence was found when officers searched his bag and uncovered a black beanie hat and red sleeping bag referred to by the victim. Nash, formerly of Boniface Gardens, Bestwood, was arrested on suspicion of rape but strenuously denied the allegations against him – even when confronted with irrefutable DNA evidence linking him to the crime.
The arresting officer spotted that Nash was wearing the same clothes as shown in the police appeal. (SWNS)

Further evidence was found when officers searched his bag and uncovered a black beanie hat and red sleeping bag described by the victim.

He eventually pleaded guilty to one count of rape and one of attempted rape at Nottingham Crown Court.

On Wednesday he was jailed for life to serve a minimum of 15 years and was also added to the sex offenders' register for life.

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Judge Stuart Rafferty KC told Nash that because of his actions, the victim “will never be happy or innocent again”.

“She was the first target you found that fitted the bill – which was to terrify, to abuse, to exercise supreme power over another person. Something that your inadequacies through life have prevented you from doing,” he added.

The judge rejected Nash’s claim that he couldn’t remember what happened, describing the attack as “planned, persistent and brutal”.

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Detective Inspector Craig Hall, of Nottinghamshire Police, said the victim showed “remarkable courage and dignity throughout the legal process”.

He added: “Nash’s behaviour, by contrast, has been appalling throughout. He has shown absolutely no remorse for what he did and continued to deny the offence even when presented with incontrovertible evidence of his guilt."

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