A deranged rapist who abducted and repeatedly raped a teenage girl in Somerset has been locked up indefinitely.

Mark Fell, 45, of Yeovil, was given an indeterminate jail sentence for public protection after he was found guilty of the attack in Yeovil in December 2008.

A jury at Bristol Crown Court was told how Fell, a violent drug user, went on the prowl for a woman after he was stood up by his girlfriend.

It was then that he drove past his young victim as she walked home from a night out with friends.

The girl was on the phone to her boyfriend when she was dragged into Fell’s car and sexually assaulted.

She was then driven to the pervert’s home where he subjected her to what the judge called a “degrading and humiliating” sex attack. He then made her shower and dumped her in the street, threatening to kill her if she went to the police.

Jailing Fell indefinitely, Judge Graham Hume-Jones said he must serve a minimum of 10 years until he is considered for parole and then he must prove he is not a risk to the public. Fell, who has remained in custody throughout the trial, was revealed as a serial offender with a string of convictions and prison sentences, including wounding, conspiracy to pervert the course of justice and possession of a firearm.

Peter Clark, defending, pointed out that Fell had no previous conviction for sexual offences. He said: “There was no gratuitous violence. This was one incident sustained over one period of time in contrast to cases where there have been a number of different rapes against strangers.”

He added: “It was not planned.”

But Judge Hume-Jones, jailing Fell indefinitely, said: “It’s impossible to imagine the fear that you must have instilled in the mind of this 18-year-old. You then discarded her in the street with the threat that if she reported this matter you would use extreme violence. You pleaded not guilty, therefore putting the complainant through the distress and indignity of reliving that night. You displayed a total and arrogant disregard for the law and a total disregard for the dignity of women.”

He said the sentence was, “in all but name”, the equivalent of a life sentence. He ordered Fell to sign the sexual offenders’ register for life and said he would serve 10 years minimum until he would be considered for parole.

Daniel Williams, 35, of Arundel Way, Yeovil, was found guilty of conspiracy to pervert the course of justice but walked free from court after being handed a 19-month prison sentence, as he has been behind bars awaiting trial for almost 10 months.

Fell’s former partner Amanda Cullen, 36, from West Coker, was jailed for two years for conspiracy to pervert the course of justice.