A man dubbed the Hounslow Slasher and described as a "every woman's nightmare" has been given an 18-year prison sentence.
Sasha Masamba, 21, attacked two women from behind with knives as they walked home at night, leaving them with permanent scars to their face and neck. There was no motive for the attacks, which took place in suburban streets in west London.
Masamba, of Hounslow, pleaded guilty to two offences of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm. He was jailed at the Old Bailey for 18 years, four of them to be served on licence.
The judge, Brian Barker, the recorder of London, said: "This is a most disturbing case. Noticeably, there was no request for money or sexual intent. The deep concern is a lack of any rational explanation for these acts. The victims could easily have died because the knife wounds were near arteries."
The Old Bailey heard that over 10 days in August 2012 Masamba prowled the area around Hounslow station and on two occasions slashed women late at night.
He was arrested at Hounslow station by PC Rebecca Skinner, a new police recruit, on 21 August after she recognised his CCTV image, which had been released to the media.
Masamba pleaded not guilty to the attempted murders of Kaja Zablocka, 19, on 7 August and Deserilyn Aurelio, 26, 10 days later, but admitted the lesser charges of wounding.
Bobbie Cheema QC, prosecuting, told the court: "This defendant is every woman's nightmare – a man who arms himself with a knife and then prowls around late at night waiting for a lone female to attack. He targeted, followed and then assaulted the innocent women walking home from public transport."
She said in one case Masamba had been prowling around for three hours looking for a victim.
The first attack was on Zablocka, a university student, who was walking home from the station just before midnight after spending the evening with friends in the West End. Masamba grabbed her throat and then said: "Sorry, I am only joking."
She did not immediately realise she had been cut, but after he made off she felt dizzy and fell to her knees. She was taken to hospital and received seven stitches to a 3cm wound. She also had a continuous cut stretching around her neck.
On 17 August Masamba attacked Aurelio, a waitress, as she was heading home from work in central London. He approached her from behind and she saw a breadknife as he slashed her across the chin.
Cheema said Aurelio put up a fierce fight during which Masamba tried to stab her twice in the stomach. The knife was later found in a nearby street and had DNA from the attacker and victim.
Aurelio was said to be awaiting plastic surgery for a 5cm scar on her face. Both women were said to have been traumatised by the attacks and were now afraid of going out alone at night.
Cheema said that a couple of days later Masamba posted threats on his Facebook page. They said: "I want to bite your ears off, pluck your eyes with chopsticks, cut your limbs with a breadknife and feed your insides to sever rats."
DCI Amanda Hargreaves said outside court: "This lengthy sentence reflects the nature of the offences. Masamba was caught before he potentially killed someone, which I believe was only a matter of time."
Police released a statement from Aurelio in which she said: "The night I was attacked it just felt like a small cut to my chin at first, but the next day I realised how serious it was and became more and more scared.
"I have lost my confidence and avoid being outside alone at night. I have an awful scar on my face, it is very visible on my chin, this is a constant reminder of the attack and how close I came to being killed.
"I am still waiting for plastic surgery on the scar so I can then hopefully begin to look at myself as normal again. I am still very self-conscious of the scar. People stare at it and often ask what happened. This always upsets me as it reminds me of that horrible night."