Michael Sams is an English

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 rapist

Rape

Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse, which is initiated by one or more persons against another person without that person's consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority or with a person who is incapable of valid consent. The...

, kidnapper

Kidnapper

Kidnapper may refer to:* Kidnapper , a film by Kelvin Tong* "Kidnapper" , by American band Blondie on the Plastic Letters album* A person who performs a kidnapping-See also:* Kidnapped * Kidnapping...

, extortion

Extortion

Extortion is a criminal offence which occurs when a person unlawfully obtains either money, property or services from a person, entity, or institution, through coercion. Refraining from doing harm is sometimes euphemistically called protection. Extortion is commonly practiced by organized crime...

ist and murder

Murder

Murder is the unlawful killing, with malice aforethought, of another human being, and generally this state of mind distinguishes murder from other forms of unlawful homicide...

er who kidnapped Julie Dart on 9 July 1991 and Stephanie Slater on 22 January 1992.

In July 1993, he was sentenced to life imprisonment

Life imprisonment

Life imprisonment is a sentence of imprisonment for a serious crime under which the convicted person is to remain in jail for the rest of his or her life...

 for the murder of an 18-year-old Leeds

Leeds

Leeds is a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. In 2001 Leeds' main urban subdivision had a population of 443,247, while the entire city has a population of 798,800 , making it the 30th-most populous city in the European Union.Leeds is the cultural, financial and commercial...

 resident Julie Dart. and the abduction of Slater. Sams had originally denied murdering Dart but later confessed. Sams had denied the charges in court but confessed to police in prison three days after he was found guilty.

Sams has continued to offend since he was first imprisoned, attacking a female

Female

Female is the sex of an organism, or a part of an organism, which produces non-mobile ova .- Defining characteristics :The ova are defined as the larger gametes in a heterogamous reproduction system, while the smaller, usually motile gamete, the spermatozoon, is produced by the male...

 probation officer

Probation officer

Parole officers and probation officers play a role in criminal justice systems by supervising offenders released from incarceration or sentenced to non-custodial sanctions such as community service...

 with a metal spike

Shiv (weapon)

A shiv is a slang term for any sharp or pointed implement used as a knife-like weapon. However, the word in practical usage is frequently used when referring to an improvised bladed weapon. Shivs are commonly made by inmates in prisons across the world...

. He received an addition of eight years to his term for this act.

He was awarded £4,000 damages when the prison service lost his artificial leg when moving him from one prison to another. He also attempted to sue Slater for libel claiming that he never raped her. He has also brought a civil

Civil law (common law)

Civil law, as opposed to criminal law, is the branch of law dealing with disputes between individuals or organizations, in which compensation may be awarded to the victim...

 case because he thinks that his prison bed

Bed

A bed is a large piece of furniture used as a place to sleep, relax, or engage in sexual relations.Most modern beds consist of a mattress on a bed frame, with the mattress resting either on a solid base, often wooden slats, or a sprung base...

 is too hard.

Sams made the news again in April 2007 when, in a letter to Inside Time

Inside Time

Inside Time is the only 'not for profit' national newspapers for prisoners distributed through the UK prison estate. It was launched by the New Bridge, the national charity for prisoners, in 1990 as an eight page quarterly newspaper to provide a voice for prisoners to express their views and...

, he claimed that "OAPs in prison are far better off than those in the community."

Sams was a competitive middle distance runner

Middle distance track event

Middle distance running events are track races longer than sprints, up to 3000 metres. The standard middle distances are the 800 metres, 1500 metres and mile run, although the 3000 metres may also be classified as a middle distance event. The 880 yard run, or half mile, was the forebear to the...

 before contracting the disease that caused him to lose his leg.

As of 2008, he is currently being held at Whitemoor Prison

Whitemoor (HM Prison)

HM Prison Whitemoor is a Category A men's prison, located near the town of March in Cambridgeshire, England. The prison is operated by Her Majesty's Prison Service.-History:...

 in Cambridgeshire

Cambridgeshire

Cambridgeshire is a county in England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the northeast, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire to the west...

.