Royal Navy raped child, held her over balcony and threatened to kill her if she talked about it

A Royal Marine who raped a child in London and then threatened to kill her if she spoke out raped another teenager in Kent 40 years later, a court heard. Andrew Mills, who was once screened by MI6, was jailed for 14 years on Friday 19 July after a jury found him guilty of rape and four counts of sexual assault in the Westminster area between 1976 and 1980 following a trial at Southwark Crown Court in April.

The 62-year-old rapist – who showed “no remorse or recognition” – was previously convicted of five sex offences at Woolwich Crown Court in 2021, including an attack on a 19-year-old woman in Kent in 2019.

Mills picked up the drunk victim from the street in Gravesend town centre at night and then raped her in his van.

Mills, of Granville Road, Gravesend, was described at the time by a Kent Police detective as an ‘opportunistic predator who poses an extreme danger to women’ and was jailed for eight years. Now that Mills has been exposed as a dangerous sex offender, another victim has bravely spoken out about his history of sexual abuse. He told police in London how he had sexually abused her from a young age and then raped her when she was a child.

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She told jurors about at least six sexual assaults that occurred in the 1970s, beginning when she was eight. They included Mills, then a young man himself, touching and penetrating her vagina with his fingers.

The jury also heard that he made anonymous phone calls to make sure he could reach her. After a break from the crime, Mills raped the victim at a party at the age of 18 and threatened to kill her and her family if she spoke out.

The trial heard she felt like something had been spiked in her drink when Mills took her to the roof of a London flat ‘for some fresh air’. She remembered being in the lift but said she ‘probably passed out’ because she woke up lying on the stairs with Mills on top of her. At one point during the rape, she said someone came out to tell them to be quiet but they didn’t intervene.

She then described how Mills had put his hand over her mouth and threatened to kill her and her parents if she said anything. Mills had just started a six-year career in the Royal Marines, which would see him serve in Northern Ireland and the Falklands, so the victim believed he was capable of making the terrifying threats.

The court heard he then held her over a balcony and threatened to throw her off, at which point she promised to keep quiet. She then told the jury he began hitting her and pushing her down a flight of stairs. It was only when details of Mills’ vicious rape by a stranger emerged in 2021 that the victim felt able to speak about the horrific episode and the abuse that led up to it.

‘I was completely devastated’

In an impact statement, the victim – who suffers from anxiety, flashbacks and depression – described her “extreme” fear and being “constantly on guard”. Prosecutor Dominic Connolly also explained the damaging effects on her friendships and romance, saying it had made her an “anxious and overprotective” mother.

She also said she reported the abuse after feeling “guilty” for not reporting Mills sooner, after his attack on a stranger came to light.

She described the impact of the latest attack: “When Andrew raped me… I was completely devastated… I really felt like my life was over and I have no idea how I got back from that,” adding: “I don’t say this lightly, but Andrew has ruined my life. It’s been 44 years since he raped me and now I’m trying to get my life back on track… There’s not a day that goes by that I don’t think about it.”

In the 1970s, the maximum sentence for sexual assault was five years, while rape could mean life in prison. Sentencing was complicated by the fact that Mills’ previous convictions – for two counts of rape, two of attempted rape and one of sexual assault by digital penetration – came chronologically after his earlier offences, which were unknown at the time.

If the sentencing judge had known of Mills’ past character, the sentence would have been more severe. When Judge Nicholas Cole sentenced Mills on Friday, he could not consider his first conviction to be an aggravating factor in his historical offending, but he did consider it evidence that Mills posed an ongoing danger to the public. He also ruled that the final sentence should run concurrently with the 2021 sentence, given the timeline of Mills’ offending.

‘Unable to exercise control’

Mills’ family laughed from the public gallery as defence lawyer Mark Kimsey said his client had been a law-abiding citizen for 40 years between the first and second rapes. The lawyer then outlined Mills’ military service, followed by work as a carpenter, working in the Ministry of Defence’s arms depot, screening by MI6 and time spent with the Honourable Artillery Company in London.

Mr Kimsey said Mills had suffered from PTSD during his years in the service, which had left him on “a lot of medication”, and that he had suffered a heart attack during his arrest in 2019. Some family members described him as a “loving father” and “supportive father-in-law”, but those MyLondon spoke to after the hearing had very different views.

Mills also claimed he had been “gagged” to testify, but this was firmly rejected by the judge at Friday’s hearing. Prosecutors were denied a request to tell the jury about Mills’ previous conviction, but it also prevented him from speaking positively about his own character.

Judge Cole was scathing about Mills’ handwritten letter and a pre-sence report, saying it was “full of pity and blame for others”. The judge also noted a probation officer’s conclusion that Mills had shown “no positive change” and that he was “incapable of exercising control or decision-making”.

“As someone who raped someone at 18 and then again at 57, I believe you remain a danger for the foreseeable future,” Judge Cole said, concluding that an additional five-year driving ban as part of an extended sentence was necessary to protect the public.

Mills was sentenced to 14 years for rape, four years for two counts of sexual assault, and two years for two more counts of sexual assault. These sentences will all run concurrently with his previous eight-year sentence, which was imposed in 2021. He must serve two-thirds of his sentence before he is eligible for parole, which will be around 2030.

Judge Cole thanked the victim for her “strength,” “compassion” and “calm, cogent presentation of evidence throughout the trial.”

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