JOSEPH McCann has been revealed as one of the UK's worst criminals with a record stretching all the way back to when he was just 14.

Here's what we know about the serial rapist.

Who is Joseph McCann?

Serial rapist Joseph McCann spent the years in and out of prison for a string of offences including theft and burglary.

In 2008, the beast burst into the home of an 85-year-old man and threatened to knife him in a brutal burglary in Bedford.

He was caged for a minimum of two years and later released on licence when he was arrested for another burglary.

Despite being on an indeterminate sentence, McCann was released from prison in February automatically half-way through a three-year sentence.

The mistake meant he was able to embark on his grisly rampage between April 21 and May 5.

Why was Joseph McCann on trial?

McCann was on trial for raping and kidnapping 11 people including an 11-year-old boy during a two-week cocaine-fuelled reign of terror after mistakenly being freed from jail.

Sick Joseph McCann, 34, wore wigs, told victims he loved them and claimed they were part of a "gypsy initiation ritual" as he carried out a horrific rape spree across the UK.

He had mistakenly been freed automatically half-way through a three-year sentence for burglary and theft in February this year.

A probe has now been launched by the Ministry of Justice into why McCann was not recalled to prison after committing another burglary following his release from an indeterminate sentence for aggravated burglary in 2008.

The Parole Board did not assess whether he was suitable for release – leaving him free to commit his grisly crimes.

McCann abducted victims from the street and threatened some at knifepoint before brutally raping them for hours on end.

One 17-year-old girl jumped naked from a first-floor window after fearing she would be trafficked abroad when McCann raped her and her 11-year-old brother.

The girl's mum was tied up with hair straighteners and forced to listen to the muffled screams of her children as the sicko raped them both.

McCann's gruesome rampage finally came to an end in May this year following a dramatic five-hour stand-off with cops after the fiend fled up a tree.

He then told police: "If you had caught me for the first two, the rest of this wouldn't have happened."

McCann was today found guilty at the Old Bailey of 37 charges including the rape of a child under 13, kidnap, and sexual assault concerning 11 alleged victims.

They were all aged between 11 and 71, and the offences occurred across five police force areas over a two-week period between 20 April and 5 May.

McCann will be sentenced on December 9 and is facing life in jail.

Why was Joseph McCann handed an ASBO in 1999?

McCann was one of Britain's first ASBO yobs after terrorising locals by setting cars alight and shoplifting.

When he was just 14 he was slapped with the Anti-Social Behaviour Order alongside his brothers Michael and Sean.

The teen tearaways rampaged through the poverty-stricken Manchester estate they lived on – robbing terrified locals and setting cars alight.

Their campaign of terror on the gritty Beswick estate finally came to an end when they were banned from the area.

The brothers even went to the Court of Appeal to try and overturn the conditions of the ASBO – but top judges blocked their pleas.

Undettered, the feckless brood then moved to Aylesbury, Bucks, and Middlesex where they linked up with their traveller relatives.

McCann, who began dabbling in crime in 1998 when he was convicted of shoplifting, continued his yobbish behaviour in his new home.

The family "brought havoc" to Middlesex – with McCann and one of his brothers repeatedly stealing cars and setting them ablaze.

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