Austin Osayande of Leeds jailed after raping woman

11
408

A rapist who carried his victim to a secluded spot before attacking her and telling her he was HIV positive has been jailed for life. Austin Osayande raped his victim in an alleyway and laughed when the attack was over, telling her he was HIV positive.

The crime took place seven years ago and the footage gained widespread coverage. But Osayande was only caught after being linked to it by DNA from a second sexual assault he committed last year while working as a Hermes delivery driver.

The woman – then aged 24 – was walking to get a taxi home in Leeds city centre when she was targeted by Austin Osayande in August 2015.Police released CCTV footage after the attack, but he was not caught until he assaulted another woman last year.He was jailed for life at Leeds Crown Court with a minimum term of 16 years.Osayande, who is now 40, of Sissons Road, Leeds, had earlier pleaded guilty to one count of sexual assault and one count of rape.He will be allowed to be considered for parole after nine years and six months.

The victim said she had lost her confidence, her ability to trust, and would have to live with the memory every day of her life. “You took away my freedom of choice because of your selfish gratification, which has since left me numb, degraded, and hurt both mentally and physically,” she said.

“I’ve endured so much pain over the years and will never fully overcome the torture you’ve put me through. No matter how much therapy I’ve had, it will never fully take it away.”

The court heard Osayande delivered parcels to his second victim on a number of occasions. He made a delivery on the day of the attack and said he would come round later for a coffee. She let him in but didn’t have the confidence to ask him to leave when she then realized she did not want him to stay. She tried to push him away during the assault but Osayande was much bigger and stronger.

She said in a statement read to the court that she now suffered anxiety going out alone. Her daughter picked up on this and was more clingy. She had separated from her long-term partner because she struggled to trust men and had lost friends.

“I just feel like everything is on top of me. And I’m blaming myself. As a result of the attack I’ve pushed everyone away, especially the people close to me.“I am not sure I will be able to be emotional or physical with anyone ever again, and most of all I hate myself for making a stupid choice.”

The defense barrister Robert Mochrie said his client wanted, through him, to express “his genuine remorse” for the crimes, which Osayande initially denied before changing his pleas to guilty last month.

Jailing Osayande, the recorder of Leeds, Judge Guy Kearl QC, said: “I find you are a sexual predator – you are a danger to women. That danger continued for at least six years – there is no reason to think it will not continue.”

After the hearing Pat Twiggs, temporary assistant chief constable of West Yorkshire Police, said: “Osayande is the absolute embodiment of a dangerous sexual predator. The CCTV footage from 2015 shows him prowling the streets in the early hours, hunting for a woman to sexually attack for his own twisted gratification.

“The traumatic impact that his appalling actions have caused to the victims of both these offenses [should not be] underestimated.”

Author: Gbenga Teejay Okunlola

London, UK

teejayok@gmail.com

11 COMMENTS

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here