A BLACK Country man who brutally raped three women in the Dudley area after boasting about his sexual prowess has been jailed for 17 years.

Dean Hanzell treated women with contempt and he had repeatedly declared that most were "slags and liars", Wolverhampton Crown Court heard.

His first victim was a woman he had known for some time and had met up with at a barbecue.

Afterwards, he was invited - along with a number of other people - back to her home in August 2013.

The 26-year-old told the woman he wanted to talk to her in private and when they were alone he kissed her.

Although she did not object, she made it clear she did not want things to go any further but that was a statement he ignored.

Hanzell claimed he was unwell and went upstairs to lie on a bed, later grabbing her by the throat before raping and sexually assaulting the victim, who was so traumatised she did not report the incident to police for six weeks.

In August 2015, Hanzell went to the home of a woman after meeting her for the first time.

He took cocaine and at the end of the evening, arranged for a taxi to pick him up.

Hanzell pretended to leave the house but instead, he crept into the woman's bedroom before raping her twice in what was described as a "humiliating and degrading" attack.

All of the sex with the victims had been consensual, according to Hanzell, who had been arrested and bailed, pending further inquiries when he sexually assaulted his third victim in an alleyway in April this year.

Hanzell, of Brandon Close, West Bromwich, had denied three charges of rape and four more of sexual assault.

But he was convicted by a jury of all offences after they retired to consider the evidence at the end of his trial.

Anthony Bell, defending, told the court that Hanzell was a man who lacked maturity, adding: "Perhaps this is demonstrated by the way he talks about women."

However Judge Nicholas Webb told Hanzell it was clear that beneath the surface he was a "predatory and dangerous man".

He continued: "You have a contempt for women and you expect to get your own way with them. You are probably very proud of yourself when you do but, when you do not, you commit very grave offences."

The judge said it was clear Hanzell posed a risk to any woman he met and he extended his licence on his release from custody by a further six years.

He said Hanzell would only be allowed back onto the streets when the parole board deemed him to be safe and ruled he must register as a sex offender for the rest of his life.