A DANGEROUS predator who stalked and raped a Brighton teenager has failed to convince top judges he is the victim of a miscarriage of justice.

Shaun Harrad, of Sandringham Road in Basildon, Essex, was convicted of two counts of rape and one of stalking.

The 57-year-old was also found guilty of distributing or sharing indecent photos of a child and assault occasioning actual bodily harm.

He was jailed for 15 years at Lewes Crown Court on December 9 2016, Mr Justice Nicol told London’s Appeal Court.

Branded a danger to the public, he was ordered to serve an extra three years on licence after his release.

Harrad met the girl online when she was aged 13 or 14, and she believed he was a young man called Paul.

But, after she turned 18, he showed her a photo of himself, which revealed his true identity as a middle-aged man.

He told her he had enough compromising photos of her to destroy her life and went on to rape her.

In documents presented to the Appeal Court, Harrad argued his convictions were unsafe.

But Mr Justice Nicol said the issues he raised had gone before the trial jury and there was “no fresh evidence”.

Harrad also attacked the professionalism of his trial barrister but the judge said this was “without foundation.”

And there were “no justifiable criticisms of the trial judge’ who had ‘correctly and fairly directed the jury.’

Harrad argued that his jail term was far too tough and he had wrongly been labelled dangerous.

But Mr Justice Nicol said the Crown Court judge was entitled to conclude that Harrad was a dangerous offender.

And the overall extended sentence was just and proportionate for his “very serious and predatory offending.”