A Carlisle man convicted of raping two women is facing a prison sentence of years and years.

That was the warning spelled out by Judge James Adkin at Carlisle Crown Court today as a jury delivered its verdicts on Ian Beal, 55, after they considered the evidence.

Beal, of Spencer Street, Carlisle, had denied 19 charges - 12 rapes, one serious sexual assault and five counts of causing somebody to engage in sexual activity without their consent.

He was found guilty of two rapes and one serious sexual assault but cleared of the other charges.

After the jury delivered their verdicts, Judge Adkin told the defendant that the guilty verdicts related to the more violent sexual assaults that were alleged.

The judge said: "The sentence is inevitably prison, and prison for years and years because of the seriousness of these offences."

The judge said the Probation Service would now be asked to compile a report looking at the future risk posed by the defendant.

Beal, who was remanded in custody, will be sentenced on November 26.

The rapes Beal was convicted of - against two different women - were more than a decade apart.