A serial rapist who lured three escorts to his home and raped them with knives was sentenced to life imprisonment on Tuesday at Blackfriars Crown Court.
Duwayne Shaun Henry, 34, of Morning Lane, Hackney, was found guilty following a three-week trial and sentenced to serve a minimum of 12 and a half years.
The court heard that in each attack, Henry selected his victims from an online escort agency and later subjected them to degrading treatment including repeated rapes using large knives and restraints.
Rapist: “I’m invisible, I’m the ripper”
In chilling testimonies given by the victims, Henry was said to have told the women “I’m invisible, I’m the ripper”, before threatening them with death and serious injury.
In the first attack, in early 2013, Henry took a photo of his victim’s driving license and told her he would find her and kill her if she went to the police, after subjecting her to a three hour long attack.
Investigators believe Henry deliberately selected victims who were sex workers, gambling on the fact that they were less likely to report the assaults to police.
In a second assault which took place in April 2013, Henry gagged his victim and raped her at knifepoint, before asking her to help him gather up the sheets from the bed and put them in the washing machine. She was subsequently raped on the floor before being released.
During the final attack in February 2014, Henry prepared his bedroom as a torture chamber, spread out with knives, belts, saws and a hedge trimmer. It was due to the “courage” of an anonymous “good Samaritan” that these tools were not used on Henry’s third victim.
The man, who has never been traced, despite an earlier police appeal, burst in and freed the sex worker on hearing her screams, after she had been raped at knifepoint by Henry.
The victim called police and an investigation was launched into the third attack. It was only when a search of Henry’s flat was conducted that the rapist was linked to the two previous attacks after police found one of the victim’s mobile phones.
Henry was found guilty of ten counts in all.
“An evil individual”
DI Tony Lynes, of Homicide and Major Crime Command, said: “Duwayne Henry is an evil individual and I am pleased that justice has been done today. Henry’s attacks were thoroughly planned; he controlled the environment where the attacks took place, avoiding the risk of being disturbed.
“The crimes Henry has been convicted of today are appalling but I can’t be certain that there aren’t more victims out there.”
On sentencing, Judge, HHJ Hillen said: “You are a serial rapist. The terror you instilled in your victims, by use of weapons and words used and restraints do not bear imagining.
“Your crimes are at the highest end of wickedness and are disturbing for the public. You present a danger to women and present a significant risk of serious harm to the public.”
(Featured Image: Metropolitan Police)
