A seafront sex attacker preyed on couples as they became intimate and violently assaulted them when they told him to leave them alone.

Ricardo Tavares carried out his reign of terror on Brighton beach for almost a year before he was captured by police.

Four couples were viciously attacked by the 25-year-old, of Montpelier Terrace, Brighton, between April 2008 and February this year.

Many were left needing hospital treatment.

At Lewes Crown Court yesterday, Tavares was jailed for ten years for two offences each of assault with intent to commit a sexual offence, sexual assault by penetration, wounding with intent, assault occasioning actual bodily harm, sexual assault by touching and theft.

There is even a question mark as to whether Tavares, a Portuguese national, should have been allowed into the UK.

In October 2005, the pizza parlour worker was handed a sentence of two years and nine months, suspended for two years, for attempted murder.

A condition of his sentence meant he was not allowed to leave Portugal but in 2006 he travelled to the UK to find work.

He is wanted in Portugal for breaching the terms of his sentence.

The court was told Tavares targeted his victims as they came out of nightclubs on Brighton seafront and sat on the beach.

As they became intimate he would sexually assault the woman, becoming violent and viciously assaulting them and their partner when they objected.

One of the worst attacks came on April 10 last year at 2.30am when Tavares attacked a couple who he had seen becoming intimate on the beach.

Rossano Scamardella, prosecuting, said: “He told them they should not be having sex on the beach and then ran off. They began to resume their intimate activity.”

Tavares returned and carried out a violent sexual abuse.

On May 25, Tavares sexually assaulted another woman on the beach before punching and kicking her 'like a football' as she lay on the ground.

He sexually assaulted and kicked and punched two more couples on October 15 last year and February 26, this year, as well as stealing one victim's handbags.

He also stole another handbag from a woman on the beach on February 26 this year.

Tavares was arrested in Preston Street, Brighton, during the early hours of March 5, after police saw him watching couples on the beach and acting suspiciously.

When they searched his property they found a driving licence and passport belonging to two of his victims.

Tony Loader, defending, said Tavares told police his had not been sexually motivated and that the 25-year-old Catholic had found “public sexual behaviour offensive”.

Detective Chief Inspector Ian Pollard said: "These were very serious attacks on courting couples.

“The tenacity of the investigators and the thoroughness of their planning and research led to this individual being charged with a number of offences.

“The quality of the investigation and the evidence they gathered led to his guilty plea in court and his substantial prison sentence today."

A Home Office spokesman said rules that last year prevented 5,400 foreign nationals, including EU nationals, from entering the UK have been tightened.

He added that Tavares’ sentence meant that he could be considered for deportation.”