A former Olympic swimmer has been jailed for 21 years for sexual offences, including the rape of two teenage girls under 18.

Antony James, 35, of Fort Terrace, Plymouth, United Kingdom was also found guiltyin October of sexually touching one of the girls and getting the other to send him explicit pictures when both victims were under the age of 16.

Plymouth Crown Court heard the offences took place between 2012 and 2022.

James represented Great Britain at the 2012 Olympics in London and was training to be a police officer with Devon and Cornwall Police at the time of his arrest in January 2022.

The court heard he raped one girl in the kitchen of her home and the other in a car.

Reading out her victim impact statement in court, one of the young women said: "I feel as if my formative teenage years... have been stripped from me.

"I always wonder what kind of girl I would have been if I hadn't have met you."

Judge Robert Linford ruled two-thirds of James' sentence was to be served in custody before being released on licence.

He said a sexual harm prevention order would be made for a period of 25 years and James would be placed on the sex offenders register for life.

James was found guilty of eight charges in October, including three counts of rape, three counts of sexual activity with a child and two counts of causing a child to engage in sexual activity, the Crown Prosecution Service said.