TROPHY Rapist Antoni Imiela has written to his sister begging for forgiveness.

Imiela, who is beginning a life sentence after being found guilty of a string of vicious rapes, begged his sister, Jadwiga, to keep in touch.

But Jadwiga, who lives in Newton Aycliffe, County Durham, says she is so appalled by his crimes that she could never write back.

Imiela, a railway worker who grew up in County Durham, was sentenced to seven life sentences at Maidstone Crown Court, in Kent, last week.

In his letters, written while he was on remand at London's high security Belmarsh Prison, he says: "How can I say what sorrow I have caused to my family? If you can please forgive me."

But Ms Imiela said: "We have all gone through hell over the past year and I cannot forgive him for that. He will never get a reply."

Imiela's son, Aidan, still lives in Newton Aycliffe. He told a national newspaper how his father may have accidentally phoned him during one of his attacks.

The 20-year-old said his mobile phone rang but he could hear nothing but the sounds of a struggle.

He told his mother but did not realise what it could be until Imiela was arrested months later.

Last night, the North-East detective who brought Imiela to justice for robbery described the serial rapist as a "dangerous and unpredict-able" loner.

The 49-year-old was jailed for 14 years in 1988 after admitting a string of offences committed over 18 months, including a series of armed robberies.

Retired detective Arthur Proud, who co-ordinated the national investigation into the robberies, told how Imiela's name was in the frame almost from the start.

His first offence was committed in February 1987, when he stole £10,000 from Greenbank Post Office, in Darlington, after threatening to blow the heads off staff inside.

After going to ground for a few months, he raided a sub post office in West Cornforth, County Durham, that October, which gave police their first break.

A stolen car he had used turned up in London and the Metropolitan Police found a fingerprint that belonged to Imiela.

From then on, the hunt was on - but Imiela managed to evade capture until January 1988, during which time he committed several further offences.

Mr Proud said: "We alerted the whole country about this man, this rogue criminal who was a loner."

But the net was tightening, intelligence gathered from associates and family members was mounting and the amount of evidence against Imiela was growing.

When Imiela narrowly evaded capture by armed police during a raid on January 5, he realised the game was up and telephoned Mr Proud to hand himself in.

Mr Proud said: "He was an absolute loner, living off his wits and, to me, that made him very dangerous and unpredictable.

"I think he enjoyed the notoriety that came with it. He enjoyed leading the police on."

He said he expected Imiela would offend again, but was surprised when his name emerged in connection with the Trophy Rapist investigation.

He said: "I thought Toni Imiela was a career criminal, but for weaponed robbery with a motive of personal gain, as opposed to personal gratification.