A Stevenage man who pretended to be gay to take advantage of drunk and vulnerable women has been labelled by police as a “sexual predator” after being sentenced to 12 years in prison.

Christopher Bridger, of York Road, was sentenced on Friday after being convicted of rape, two counts of sexual assault, one count of sexual assault by penetration and one count of engaging in a sex act without consent.

The 25-year-old former paramedic was given an eight-year jail term for rape and four years for sexual assault by penetration, to run consecutively. He will also serve time for the other offences concurrently.

Two of his victims were co-workers at the South East Coast Ambulance Service. Another was a fellow student at the St George’s Hospital, in London, between 2008 and 2009.

Investigating officer PC Rhiannon Barton-Wolfe, from Surrey Police’s Sexual Offences Investigation Team, said: “The sentence handed out reflects the severity of Bridger’s offending. Bridger is a sexual predator who targeted vulnerable women he worked and studied with under the pretence that he was gay.

“He would become close to his young female victims, who believed he was their friend, taking them into his confidence and then sexually assaulting them when they were drunk and at their most vulnerable.

“I would like to commend the victims in this case for their bravery in coming forward to speak out about what he did to them. I have no doubt that Bridger would have carried on offending had the victims not reported him to police.”

A South East Coast Ambulance Service spokesman said: “We welcome the length of the sentence given in this case which reflects the severity of the crimes committed. When these serious allegations came to light we suspended Mr Bridger in October 2012 and, following a thorough investigation, he was dismissed in July 2013.

“We took this matter extremely seriously and have provided support to those who made the allegations. We will continue to support those staff who require further help to assist them through what has been an very difficult time and we praise them for their courage in coming forward.”