A VALENTINE'S Day rapist who attacked a complete stranger just days after he was released from prison has been jailed for 11 years.

Richard Mitchell, aged 33, of Canonbie Road, Forest Hill, raped a 21-year-old woman in Finsbury Park in February last year.

The father-of-two denied the charge but was convicted by a jury following a trial at Snaresbrook Crown Court.

The jury heard how the former IT consultant dragged his victim into the bin sheds of a block of flats before committing the offence.

The court heard how 11 days before the attack, Mitchell had completed a two-year sentence in Pentonville Prison for indecently assaulting women on public transport.

He has also been convicted of indecent exposure, possession of an offensive weapon and burglary as well as offences of violence and dishonesty.