Mamun Rashid has been imprisoned after targeting young women as tenants on SpareRoom.com and carrying out “appalling” attacks when they refused to have sex.
Wood Green Crown Court heard that the 30-year-old used the house-share website to purposefully advertise his spare room to females aged between 18 and 45.
The victims contacted Rashid about renting a room in his Tower Hamlets property, and after they moved in he said they could live there rent-free in exchange for sex.
Upon rejecting the landlord’s advances, the women were subjected to serious sexual assaults, reported the Metro.
Rashid was arrested in May last year after he raped a 19-year-old on the evening of the day she moved in, threatening to murder her if she tried to escape or reported the attack to authorities.
After charging the London resident and remanding him in custody, police looked into his SpareRoom.com message history, contacting around 3,000 people with whom he had been in contact since joining the site in 2014.
As a result of the investigation, two more previous tenants came forward with allegations, including a 29-year-old who reported she was raped by Rashid in August 2016, describing the attack as having occurred in similar circumstances to the first complaint made to authorities.
Messages recovered on the suspect’s phone and information received during house-to-house enquiries led police to a third victim.
The 22-year-old woman — who police were informed by neighbours had been living with Rashid before abruptly moving out of his house — said the landlord sexually assaulted her.
Rashid denied all charges of offences against his past tenants but on Friday was found guilty of five counts of rape, in addition to attempted rape, assault by penetration, sexual assault, actual bodily harm (ABH), and one count of threatening to kill.
After a two-week trial, the defendant was sentenced to 14 years, plus a further four years for being found dangerous — although it is not clear how much of this time will actually be spent in custody.
Detective Constable Stav Georgiou-Moran 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.”
Police are urging any remaining victims of Rashid to contact them on 020 8733 5999 or the 101 non-emergency number, quoting Operation Montville.
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