Man guilty of raping and killing NHS worker who was passed out on a park bench

A sexual predator has been found guilty of the rape and manslaughter of a vulnerable NHS worker who was attacked on a park bench.

Mohamed Iidow repeatedly sexually assaulted 37-year-old Natalie Shotter while she was passed out in Southall Park, west London.

Following an Old Bailey trial, Iidow, 35, was found guilty of rape and manslaughter on Friday.

Jurors were not told of Iidow’s previous conviction for sexual activity by seeking to groom young people online.

In legal argument before the trial, prosecutor Alison Morgan KC also outlined ‘historic’ communications with others.

It was alleged they involved engaging others for ‘sexual services’ and it was suggested he discussed about his ‘pleasures at the concept of rape’.

During the trial, Ms Morgan said Ms Shotter had died of a heart attack caused by Iidow raping her ‘again and again’.

Earlier, CCTV footage was shown of Ms Shotter sitting on a bench with a different man when the defendant walked past and looked at them.

Iidow then left the park and drove away in his car before he returned, jurors heard.

Ms Shotter was lying down, showing ‘no clear movement’ for around half-an-hour before the defendant approached her ‘nonchalantly’, Ms Morgan said.

During the attack, the victim had been ‘deeply unconscious’, she said, with further CCTV showing the defendant moving Ms Shotter’s body around in different positions as he raped her.

Afterwards, the defendant drove back to his home in Hounslow, west London, via a Shell garage where he stopped to buy cat food and mouthwash.

Ms Shotter was found dead by a passer-by in the park in the early morning of July 17, 2021.

Swabs taken from her mouth area matched DNA samples taken from the defendant.

Ms Morgan had rejected any suggestion that Ms Shotter was already dead before she was assaulted by Iidow.

She told jurors: ‘The prosecution’s case is that Natalie died as a result of what was done to her by this defendant. She was not dead at the time when the defendant was orally raping her, it will be a matter for you to consider – that this defendant went to the park for a reason.

‘He would not have sought to have sex with a dead body for over 15 minutes, he was having sex with someone he knew was alive but was deeply unconscious and therefore he was raping her.’

Iidow had denied the charges against him but declined to give evidence.

Following the guilty verdict he was remanded into custody to be sentenced on December 13.

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