A WELLINGTON man has been jailed for life following a vicious sex attack on an elderly shopkeeper.

David Lake, 52, from Wellesley Hospital, must serve a minimum of seven years and six months in prison following sentencing at Exeter Crown Court for offences including grievous bodily harm and assault by penetration.

The former Cambridge University researcher had been found guilty of the crimes back in February.

The court had heard he was wearing a gold carnival mask and described himself as a black witch and a sorcerer before launching the completely unprovoked attack on the shopkeeper in Exeter.

Lake went to the shop after closing time and shared alcohol with his victim before describing himself as "a black witch" and "not a nice person".

He then battered his victim to the ground and kicked him until he lost consciousness from the pain caused by a fractured coccyx.

Lake then assaulted him sexually while he was unconscious.

Lake had previously been jailed for four years for a cannibalistic attack on a guest house landlady on the Isle of Wight in 2013, when he punched her in the face and bit a lump of flesh from her arm, laughing as he chewed it and ate it.

He had denied the latest attack in Exeter in October 2018 but was found guilty after a trial of causing grievous bodily harm with intent, assault by penetration, and criminal damage to a set of spectacles and a mobile phone.

Lake did not give evidence at his trial but claimed he left the shop before the assault took place.