A “DANGEROUS” rapist who was jailed for at least 14 years may have struck before, police believe.

Anthony Shaw, 21, was handed an indefinite sentence with a minimum term of 14 years at Preston Crown Court earlier this week for the rape and robbery of a 29-year-old prostitute in the grounds of Burnley College.

He was also convicted of an attempted robbery committed seven months earlier in which he threatened a sex worker with a broken bottle.

Now police have revealed they believe Shaw may be responsible for at least one other sex offence for which no one has ever been charged.

And the man who led the investigation has told how detectives closed the net on the rapist.

Unemployed Shaw attacked a prostitute in Queen Victoria Road, Burnley, in January 2008.

He was interviewed by police acting on information from the public but no further action could be taken because officers could not trace the victim to implicate Shaw.

Later that year in August, after a prostitute was raped, robbed and threatened with a claw hammer in the grounds of Burnley College, off Ormerod Road, Shaw was again brought to detectives’ attention and steps were taken to build up a case – including by speaking to Burnley’s prostitute community.

Chief Inspector Dean Holden said: “Once we knew about the August rape and robbery, we went hell for leather to link him to the attempted robbery from January, and we managed to trace the woman attacked in January.

“We sent out leaflets among the prostitute community straight away to tell them what had happened to this woman.”

Police suspected Shaw, who had previous convictions, partly because his house at the time, in Claughton Street, was so close to the scenes of the two incidents.

He also matched a description provided by the victim of the rape and robbery. Mr Holden added: “It is clear from these offences that he has a dislike for prostitutes and he has also made derogatory comments about them to police, referring to them as scum.

“He is a really dangerous offender. We are really concerned that had we not locked him up so soon after this rape that he would have gone on to commit other offences of a similar nature.

“He has been considered for at least one other offence against a prostitute but as yet there is not enough evidence to proceed.”