Police appeal to potential NI victims of serial rapist

Twenty-three women have made reports to the Met since their appeal launched in March 2025

The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) have made an appeal encouraging potential victims of a serial rapist to come forward.

Zhenhao Zou, who the Met said may turn out to be one of the worst sexual predators in the UK, was found guilty at Inner London crown court of 11 rapes of 10 different women in the UK and China.

This come after after it emerged that 23 women have made reports since an appeal was launched by the Met in March 2025.

The 28-year-old moved to Northern Ireland at the age of 20 to study mechanical engineering at Queens University Belfast between 2017 and 2019.

He then returned briefly to his native China due to Covid. In September 2019 he moved to London to do a master's degree, returning to China periodically.

The PSNI are appealing to current or former Northern Ireland residents to encourage anyone who may have had concerns about Zou to come forward.

One of UK's 'worst sexual predators'

Det Ch Insp Stephanie Finlay said that to date no reports had been made to police in Northern Ireland

Det Ch Insp Stephanie Finlay of the PSNI's Public Protection Branch said that to date no reports had been made to police in Northern Ireland.

"We have concerns that many of the victims do not know they are victims," she said.

"Zou's pattern of offending involved him meeting women socially, or through social media, then luring them back to his flat where he would ply them with drink laced with drugs and sexually assault them when they lost consciousness."

Det Ch Insp Finlay said the appeal was to "anybody who met him or in any way was alone with him, where somebody may have been in his accommodation or had an encounter with him that left them feeling uneasy or like something may have happened that they did not consent to".

She added that any potential victim would be treated with "sensitivity and respect".