Chinese language scholar discovered in charge in British court docket of drugging and raping 10 ladies

A Chinese language PhD scholar was once discovered in charge Wednesday in a London court docket of drugging and raping 10 ladies in England and China, as police warned there may well be greater than 50 different sufferers.Zhenhao Zou, 28, was once convicted of the assaults between 2019 and 2023 following a monthlong trial on the Interior London Crown Courtroom. He was once convicted of eleven counts of rape, with two of the offenses in the case of one sufferer.After greater than 19 hours of deliberations, jurors concluded Zou raped 3 of the ladies in London and 7 in China.Police have handiest been ready to spot two of the sufferers and mentioned after the decision that greater than 50 different ladies can have fallen sufferer to Zou, which might make him one of the vital worst intercourse offenders in U.Ok. historical past.The use of hidden or hand held cameras to document the assaults, Zou filmed 9 of the assaults as “souvenirs” and incessantly stored a trophy field of ladies’s assets.Zou, a mechanical engineering scholar who was once doing his PhD at College School London, claimed that the sexual interactions have been consensual. He’s going to be sentenced on June 19.Jurors, who needed to watch pictures of the assaults throughout the trial, got common breaks.Pass judgement on Rosina Cottage described the defendant as a “unhealthy and predatory sexual perpetrator” and that his sentence will likely be “very lengthy.”Zou, who confirmed no emotion because the verdicts have been learn out in court docket, was once additionally convicted of 3 counts of voyeurism, 10 of ownership of an excessive pornographic symbol, considered one of false imprisonment and 3 of ownership of a managed drug with intent to dedicate a sexual offense, particularly butanediol.He was once cleared of 2 additional counts of ownership of an excessive pornographic symbol and considered one of ownership of MDMA with intent to dedicate a sexual offense.Zou, who extensively utilized the title Pakho on-line, befriended fellow scholars of Chinese language heritage on WeChat and relationship apps, prior to inviting them for beverages and drugging them at his residences in London or an unknown location in China.“He has finished all that he can in those offenses to incapacitate his sufferers to the purpose the place they might now not face up to his assault, and in lots of cases would possibly not even take into account what has came about to them,” mentioned Metropolitan Police Commander Kevin Southworth.He thanked the 2 ladies who testified towards the “in particular cowardly and deceitful” Zou and mentioned there may be proof that he “can have doubtlessly attacked as many as 50 different ladies in the similar terrible nature.”The Met is interesting to any individual who thinks they are going to had been focused by way of Zou to touch the pressure.Throughout the trial, a decision to police from one of the vital ladies resulted in questions over the standard of the interpreter made to be had.“It’s a question of critical be apologetic about that the sufferers didn’t essentially get that perfect translation on the time,” Southworth added.Zou moved to Belfast, Northern Eire, in 2017 to check mechanical engineering at Queen’s College prior to heading to UCL in 2019 for a grasp’s stage after which a PhD.“Our ideas are with the survivors and we need to pay tribute to the bravery of the ladies who reported those crimes and gave proof on the trial,” mentioned UCL’s president, Dr. Michael Spence.For extra The Gentleman Report information and newsletters create an account at The Gentleman Report.com

Author: OpenAI