A 34-year-old man has appeared in court in Middelburg charged with raping seven women between April 2017 and April 2018.

The man first made an appointment to meet the women and then violently attacked them, the public prosecution department has told news website Nu.nl.

The women were all of a similar age to the man but no further information about the case, or about how the suspect met the women, has been made public.

The man, who comes from Vlissingen, been in custody since January and Monday’s court appearance was a procedural hearing.