Man jailed for raping women to whom he let his spare room
A man who rented his spare room to women and then raped them has been jailed for 18 years. Mamun Rashid, 30 (05.10.87), of Jodrell Road, Tower Hamlets was sentenced to 14 years’ imprisonment and a further four years’ imprisonment for being found dangerous at Wood Green Crown Court on Friday, 27 April. He will remain on the sex offenders register for life. Rashid was found guilty at the same court on Friday, 10 March of five counts of rape, one count of attempted rape, one count of assault by penetration, one count of sexual assault, one count of actual bodily harm (ABH) and one count of threatening to kill. The offences relate to three female victims who were aged between 19 and 29 years old. Rashid committed the offences between August 2016 and May 2017 from his home address on Jodrell Road in Tower Hamlets. Rashid used SpareRoom, a house-share website, to advertise his spare bedroom which he purposefully advertised to women aged between 18 and 45 years old. The victims made contact with Rashid about renting his spare room and once they were living in Rashid’s house, he offered them the room for free in return for sex. When they refused this, Rashid seriously sexually assaulted them. On 6 May 2017, a 19-year-old woman, made contact with Rashid via SpareRoom and arranged to meet him to view the flat. The following day, she moved into Rashid’s spare bedroom. Later that evening he raped her, during which Rashid threatened to kill her if she tried to escape or call police. She continued to scream for help and Rashid let her go. Once safe in a friend’s house, she reported the incident to police in the early hours of 8 May 2017. Rashid was arrested on 9 May 2017 and was charged and remanded in custody. Following the initial allegation and with the assistance of SpareRoom, police contacted approximately 3,000 people who had been in contact with Rashid via the website since he first began posting adverts on there in 2014. As a result two further victims came forward. On 7 August 2016, a 29-year-old woman was raped by Rashid in similar circumstances to the first report made to police. She reported it to police in August 2017. Rashid was produced from prison in September 2017 and arrested for the further allegations. He was charged and returned to prison. Detectives later recovered messages on Rashid’s phone suggesting there was another victim. During house to house enquiries, officers were informed that the woman had been living with Rashid before suddenly moving out of his house. Following this, police made contact with a 22-year-old woman in October 2017 and she made an allegation of sexual assault which occurred on 4 April 2017. She had been renting a room from Rashid, during which time he sexually touched her. Rashid was charged by officers on 22 November 2017. He denied all charges of offences against the three women but was convicted following a two-week trial where all three gave evidence at court. Detective Constable Stav Georgiou-Moran, of the Met’s Child Abuse and Sexual Offences Command, said: “Rashid’s vicious sexual assaults of these three women were appalling and left them with not only physical injuries but also psychological trauma. “The women have shown great courage and bravery in giving evidence against Rashid, ensuring that he is made to answer for his actions. “I want to encourage any person who has been the victim of sexual assault to tell those close to you and inform the police.” Matt Hutchinson, SpareRoom’s Communications Director, said: “We’re appalled by these incidents, and our thoughts go out to the victims. The safety of our users is SpareRoom’s top priority, and we’ve done everything we can to co-operate fully with the police, to help them bring this case to trial and ensure a conviction.” If you’ve been a victim of Mamun Rashid, please contact the sexual offences investigation team based at Holborn, on 020 8733 5999 quoting Operation Montville or call police on 101.
