A 25-year-old Ivorian who was jailed for eight years after raping a woman and trying to rape two more in 2008 yester-day had the jail term confirmed on appeal.

Mumin Trabulé had hung around the Ta’ Xbiex and Gżira areas in the four months leading up to the first attack in March 2008 followed by another in July and the last in August.

In his appeal, Mr Trabulé argued that, among other things, the victims could not positively identify him and in fact used words such as “the black one” and “that African”. A fourth witness declared that he was 99 per cent sure Mr Trabulé was the attacker.

Mr Justice Michael Mallia, however, ruled that Mr Trabulé had been correctly found guilty of the crimes.

The conviction was not solely corroborated by the victims themselves but also by the forensic evidence which found Mr Trabulé’s DNA on clothing belonging to the victims.