Jailed: How a distinctive facial tattoo helped police bring a violent Warwick rapist to justice

A Warwick man who raped a woman but was caught thanks to his distinctive facial tattoo has been jailed for 10 years.

Luke Kyberd attacked the woman as she was on her way home from work walking through a park on Queensway in Leamington around 9pm on January 3.

The 29-year-old grabbed the woman, attempted to strangle her, demanded her phone, and punched her multiple times before sexually assaulting her.

Thankfully, the woman was able to escape and ran to a nearby restaurant where she raised the alarm and provided a detailed description of her attacker.

The description of the attacker was then put out over police airways and an officer immediately recognised the facial tattoo and stretched ear piercings to be that of Kyberd, who was arrested at his home in Warwick shortly afterwards.

Before that, cordons were put up around the area and multiple emergency vehicles and a police helicopter were brought to the area.

At an earlier court hearing, he pleaded guilty to rape, attempted rape, sexual assault, robbery, and intentional strangulation.

And appearing at Warwick Crown Court today (Thursday April 11), Kyberd, of The Beeches, was sentenced to 10 years in prison. The judge deemed him to be a dangerous offender and as such he will serve an additional seven years on licence.

Detective Sergeant Nic Norris said: “Despite being subjected to an horrendous ordeal, the woman showed remarkable bravery not only in raising the alarm but in providing such an accurate description of her attacker.

“In doing so, we were able to quickly identify and arrest Kyberd. Throughout the investigation and subsequent court proceedings, she has displayed tremendous courage, and we cannot thank her enough for her support.

“While I know this experience will be hard to forget, I hope she can take some comfort from knowing Kyberd will be behind bars for a long time. He’s an extremely violent and dangerous man, and the streets will be safer with him in jail.”