VICTIMS have voiced their outrage after a former cop who was jailed for life for raping and sexually assaulting vulnerable women was released after just seven years.

Stephen Mitchell was ordered to serve two life sentences and warned he might never be freed from prison by a judge at Newcastle Crown Court in January 2011 for attacks on up to 30 women.

However, last week it emerged that the 50-year-old, described as a "ruthless sexual predator" in court, is living in his home city of Glasgow after being released.

Mitchell, who was 42 when he was jailed, preyed on women he met while on duty from his base at Pilgrim Street police station in Newcastle.

Originally from Glasgow, he raped and sexually abused heroin addicts, shoplifters and a disabled teenager by offering them help while in custody, then demanding sexual favours afterwards.

He told one of his victims that if she complained: "No one would believe a junkie".

Women who he attacked have told how he would goad them, saying: "I can do anything I want" and "I am the law".

One of his victims, who Mitchell was found guilty of attacking, has described her shock at learning the beast is once again free.

Now a 48-year-old grandmother who we cannot name, the victim told how she was suffering from breast cancer at the time of the attack.

She believes that Mitchell mistook her for a heroin addict as she was underweight at the time after undergoing treatment.

Speaking to The Daily Mail she said: "I was taken to the station and he led me down a dark passage. I remember thinking: 'This is odd'. He then took me to a room and sat me in a chair.

"He stood over me and pulled my hair hard and then it happened. I could see how excited he was getting by the power he had over me; he was loving the control and dominance.

"I was terrified. I told him I was very unwell with cancer but he didn’t care. I don’t know why I stole those things. It was a moment of madness and what happened afterwards has wrecked my life - it’s like a nightmare I can’t wake up from."

Another victim who we also cannot name for legal reasons said she was furious at his release.

She said: "I first found out when I saw the story in the papers.

"I was completely shocked. I was immediately taken back to the day he was found guilty and a police officer told me if he was ever released he would never be allowed to come back to the North East.

"I do not believe he would return here to target his old victims, but I think he might find new ones in Scotland. I definitely worry he will attack other women.

"He had no remorse at the time. He denied it all. He was happy to let his victims go through with the ordeal of giving evidence in court.

"He is incredibly manipulative and given his history I do not think he will have changed at all. There is no way he should be back on the streets again so soon."

Chair of the Commons Home Affairs Committee Yvette Cooper has called for an urgent update from Justice Secretary David Gauke following reports of Mitchell's release on parole.

Ms Cooper said: "This case is disturbing and incomprehensible.

"For someone who has committed such appalling crimes and been told that they may not be released for many years, if ever, to then be subject to release on parole after only seven-and-a-half years is just impossible to understand.

"We urgently need to know what the Parole Board's reasons were because to most people this really does not look like justice for victims."

The Labour MP also pointed to the recent furore which followed the release of another serial sex offender, John Worboys.

Ms Cooper said: "The Justice Secretary also needs to tell us urgently what progress he has made since the decision on John Worboys to stop the same things happening all over again.

"It shouldn't be left to victims to take legal action to get answers about why someone is being released or to stop serious and dangerous criminals being released early."

In a statement, Rape Crisis England and Wales described the case as "deeply disturbing" and said that it highlights "the urgent need for greater clarity around Parole Board decision-making".

Discussing victims' experiences of the criminal justice system, the organisation added: "The criminal justice process takes too long, can be re-traumatising, and sometimes, as this case highlights, even when a dangerous, serial offender is convicted, measures taken to minimise the potential harm they can cause seem severely inadequate."

Sentencing him at Newcastle Crown Court, the judge said: "So cowed and downtrodden by their experiences of life and by your influence were those seven women that they did not report what you had done until they were given the opportunity to do so by the police investigation into your activities years later."

The former soldier, who resigned from Northumbria Police, was nicknamed PC Cucumber by investigating officers for his cold, callous demeanour.

After the case, Northumbria Police has apologised for Mitchell's "evil" actions.

The force said serious failings had led to the PC being free to attack drug addicts and shoplifters after arresting them.