Sick rapist who carried woman through the city to sexually assault her jailed for life after six year search
A SICK rapist who carried a woman through a city to sexually assault her has been jailed for life after a six-year police search.
Austin Osayande, 40, was seen in a distressing CCTV video carrying a 24-year-old woman through the deserted streets of Leeds on August 14, 2015.
Leeds Crown Court heard that Osayande, branded a “danger to women” by a judge, laughed at his victim and told her that he had HIV.
Shockingly, six years later, he struck again and raped a woman in her 30s last September.
Today he was jailed for life with a minimum term of 16 years after pleading guilty to sexual assault and rape.
His first victim had been walking to get a taxi home after a night out in Leeds when Osayande approached her at around 5am.
He spoke to her and walked alongside her – before he picked her up in his arms and carried her to the scene of the attack a short distance away.
Prosecutor Christine Egerton told the court Osayande abducted the victim and took her to a secluded area behind a supermarket.
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She said the defendant “overpowered” the woman and “put her in a physical lock” before raping her.
Ms Egerton said: “She remembers she felt it was very painful.
“She tried to push him off by pushing both of his shoulders away.
“She was not able to fight back because of her own intoxication but told him to get off her. His response was to tell her it wouldn’t take long.
“When he eventually let go of her, he pulled up his trousers, laughed and told her he was HIV positive.”
Wearing a long black overcoat and black trousers and with a shaven head, he was seen in earlier CCTV footage loitering in a car park and approaching a woman on the street.
The shocking footage was released by detectives probing the rape in 2015 – but he was not caught until September last year when he was committed another sexual assault.
Before the second attack in 2021, Osayande, who was working as a delivery driver for Hermes, delivered a parcel to his victim’s door and told her he was going to return ‘for a coffee’ later.
The victim let him into her house, but not did make him a coffee and did not have the confidence to ask him to leave, the court heard.
He then attacked the woman in her own home before chillingly telling her he will “see her on Saturday”.
Osayande will serve two-thirds of his sentence before he is eligible to go before the Parole Board who will decide whether he is safe to be released.
He will be on licence for the remainder of his life – and he has also been made the subject of an indefinite sexual harm prevention order.
Osayande had faced a trial after being charged with the rape in 2015 and a sexual assault on the second victim.
But he later pleaded guilty to one count of rape and one count of sexual assault by penetration and was sentenced today.
Sentencing him, Recorder of Leeds, Judge Guy Kearl branded him a danger to women.
Today, the court heard that Osayande’s first victim still feels uneasy when walking alone seven years after his horrific attack.
She said she would “never fully overcome the torture you put me through”.
The victim said he “mentally abused me” with “the words you said that night as I cried and begged you to stop”.
In an emotional impact statement, his victim from 2015 told him: “Since you raped me, I try not to live in a world of fear but find myself feeling uneasy when alone, when it’s dark, and making my way home.
“Anyone should be able to do this without being subjected to rape.
“I hope the sentencing you receive today reflects justice for not only myself but for the other victim and victims that may come forward.
“You claim to be sorry for your actions now, you were never sorry because if you were you would have come forward, you never would have repeated such an awful crime many years down the line.
“The only reason you’re sorry is because today justice has prevailed and your sorry you were caught.”
Osayande was finally brought to justice after cops were able to match his DNA from the 2015 attack with DNA taken from the victim of the attack last September.
The sample, taken from him while in custody, was found to be a match to the 2015 attack – and Osayande was then arrested over that incident.
He was charged with rape in relation to the 2015 incident and assault by penetration for the 2021 offence.
Temporary Assistant Chief Constable Pat Twiggs of West Yorkshire Police branded him as “the absolute embodiment of a dangerous sexual predator.”
Speaking after the sentencing, TACC Twiggs said: “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 offences cannot be underestimated.
‘DANGER TO WOMEN’
“We commend the bravery, tenacity and patience they have shown, and it is genuinely satisfying that we have finally been able to justify their faith in the police by getting justice for them and their families.
“We explored all possible lines of enquiry at the time of the 2015 attack and in the months and years that followed, but frustratingly we were unable to identify the suspect.
“We had a DNA profile but there was no match on the national database.
“Although we had exhausted all avenues, the case was never closed and there was still the hope of a breakthrough one day if the suspect were to be arrested for another offence where his DNA was taken.
“Sadly in this case another woman had to suffer at Osayande’s hands for him to be caught.”
Passing sentence, Judge Guy Kearl QC told Osayande: “I find you are a sexual predator.
“You are a danger to women, whether known to you or strangers in situations where you can get them alone and then force yourself on them.
“This danger has continued for at least six years. There is no reason to think it will not continue.”
“You pose a high risk of causing serious harm to female members of the public.”