A sexual predator who had been in the UK for less than a week, having arrived here from Romania, has been jailed for raping a 28-year-old woman who was walking home from a bar in Finchley.
Mihai Roban, 47, was sentenced to seven years and eight months years imprisonment at Harrow Crown Court on Thursday, 24 September after he pleaded guilty to one count of rape at Harrow Crown Court on 17 July.
The convicted rapist will also be required to sign on the Sex Offenders Register for life.
The court head the harrowing story of how the victim had left a bar and was walking along Regents Park Road at approximately 02:40hrs on Monday, 20 January.
She was approached by Roban who grabbed her and forced her behind a public toilet where he carried out the vicious and brutal attack.
Roban ignored the victims repeated pleas for him to stop and the alarm was raised by a member of the public who heard the distressed victim calling from help.
The witness called 999 and guided response team officers to the location. Police attended and found Robanwho was still with the victim.
He was arrested and taken into custody where he refused to make any comment about the incident during an interview with officers.
He was charged with rape the same day by Public Protection Detectives from the North West Command Unit.
Detective Sergeant Michael Daly, the Senior Investigating Officer, said:
“Roban had only been in the country for a week when he carried out this attack.
“When we conducted enquiries with police in his home country of Romania we discovered that he had two previous convictions for rape and prison is the right place for him.
“He maintained his innocence until the week before the trial was due to start which brought further anguish to his victim.
“The victim has been incredibly strong throughout the investigation and I hope that knowing Roban will be in prison for some time will help her to move on from her horrible ordeal.
“I also wish to thank the member of the public for doing the right thing and calling the police when they heard the victim’s calls for help, as well as the investigation team for their excellent work and their continued dedication supporting victims of rape and bringing the offenders to justice.”
Before you go...
WE NEED YOUR HELP. As former emergency services & armed forces personnel, we pride ourselves on bringing you important, fast-moving and breaking news stories & videos which are free from the negative 'anti' bias which is often directed at the emergency services & NHS by some sections of the mainstream media.
One of the reasons we started 'Emergency Services News' back in 2018 was because we became tired of reading badly informed stories about the emergency services.
We want to be the unheard voice of the remarkable men and women who serve in the emergency services, NHS and armed forces. And with around 500k page views each month, we are getting there!
As income from ads, the mainstay source of income for most publishers, continues to decline; we need the help of you, our readers.
You can support emergency services news from as little as £1. It only takes a minute. Every contribution, however big or small, is vital for our future.
Please help us to continue to highlight the life-saving work of the emergency services, NHS and armed forces by becoming a supporter.
I think all criminals from anywhere should have their record sent to the UK authorities and all entrants to the UK should have to list their record before being allowed to enter. Any convictions not listed and discovered later will mean possible imprisonment and the immediate return to country of origin.
His previous convictions should have been disclosed before he attempted to enter the UK and, once known, he should have been denied entry. Once his (FULL)sentence is served he MUST be deported back to Romania and denied any return to the UK.
The joys of the European Union