A man has been sentenced to 14 years' imprisonment and two years' extended licence for the kidnap and rape of a vulnerable young woman.
38-year-old Abdulahi Mohamed Mohamud of Surrey was sentenced at Kingston Crown Court.
The court heard of how in the early hours on 25 January 2022, Mohamud was driving around Soho when he spotted a young woman who had become separated from her friends and was lost in central London, semi-conscious and slumped in a doorway. Mohamud stopped his car and picked her up and put her in his car. He then violently raped her before dropping her off on the street.
Photo: Metropolitan Police
Abdulahi Mohamed Mohamud (Photo - Metropolitan Police)
Abdulahi Mohamed Mohamud
A delivery driver noticed that she was scared and in distress and assisted her to call home and arranged for a taxi to take her home.
Police used the Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) system to identify the offender and he was arrested three days later. He denied the offence claiming that the victim had made up the allegation because he refused to drive her home and claimed “any interaction” was initiated by the victim and it was all consensual.
At trial on 26 October 2022, the jury saw through his lies and unanimously convicted him of rape and kidnap.
Lola Adesiyan, Senior Crown Prosecutor from the Rape and Serious Sexual Offences Unit in London South said: “Mohamud is clearly a very devious and dangerous individual. This lengthy sentence means that other women are now protected from danger at the hands of this sexual predator.
“The ordeal he put the victim through was terrible. He took advantage of her incapacitation not to assist her but to rape her. From CCTV, it is obvious that he saw her in a vulnerable condition and used this vulnerability to get her into his car where he carried out a violent attack.
“It’s thanks to the courage of the victim that we were able to put this dangerous man before a jury who found him guilty. We were determined to achieve justice for her, and I hope that this sentence will give her some closure following her terrible ordeal.
“The Crown Prosecution Service will not hesitate to prosecute rape and serious sexual offences where there is the evidence to do so and bring offenders to justice.”
