Man raped series of women after renting them his spare room

Mamun Rashid initially offered victims room for free in return for sex, before attacking them when they rejected him

A man who rented his spare room to women and then raped them has been jailed for 18 years.

Mamun Rashid of Tower Hamlets was sentenced at Wood Green Crown Court. The 30-year-old will remain on the sex offenders register for life.

Rashid was found guilty at the same court on 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 and one count of threatening to kill.

Carried out between August 2016 and May 2017, the offences relate to three female victims aged between 19 and 29 years old.

Rashid used houseshare website SpareRoom to advertise his spare bedroom, deliberately targeting women aged between 18 and 45 years old.

After the victims made contact with Rashid about renting his spare room then moved into his 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. Rashid eventually let her go as she continued to scream for help and once safe in a friend’s house, she reported the incident to police.

Rashid was arrested the following day, before being 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 released 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.

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 Metropolitan Police‘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.”

SpareRoom spokesman Matt Hutchinson spokesman 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 cooperate fully with the police, to help them bring this case to trial and ensure a conviction.”

Police appealed for any other victims of Rashid to contact the force’s sexual offences investigation team on 020 8733 5999, quoting Operation Montville, or call them on 101.