Former PhD student Zhenhao Zou is jailed for at least 24 years for raping 10 women in London and China

Summary

Warning: This page contains descriptions of sexual violence
Former PhD student Zhenhao Zou is jailed for at least 24 years for the rape of 10 women in London and China
Outside court, a senior police officer calls Zou is a "vile and depraved individual", adding: "The sheer scale of his offending... makes him one of the most prolific predators we have ever seen"
Zou, a 28-year-old Chinese national, kept a box of the women's belongings and filmed nine of the rapes
He was also found guilty of voyeurism, possession of extreme pornographic images, drug offences and false imprisonment between 2019 and 2024
One of his victims says she was "haunted" by the attack, while another says "he preyed on my vulnerability"; only three of the 10 women Zou raped have been identified
Earlier, the court was told 24 more people have come forward since Zou's conviction

Live Reporting

Edited by Emily McGarvey with Claire Ellison and Daniel Sandford at Inner London Crown Court

'Depraved and cowardly' rapist may have attacked 50 more womenpublished at 10:03 British Summer Time
Daniel Sandford
UK correspondent

Media caption,
Moment police arrest rapist Zhenhao Zou
When he was arrested in January 2024, serial rapist Zhenhao Zou was living on the 39th floor of an expensive block of London flats with views across the city.
Police found his bedroom had been equipped with hidden cameras and discovered a wardrobe stocked with alcohol, ecstasy and an industrial chemical that the human body turns into the "date rape" drug GHB.
Police were able to charge him with multiple assaults on women in both the UK and China - including the rapes of women who have never come forward and have never been identified.
Detectives say they fear he may have raped as many as 50 more women. "This man may well turn out to be one of the most prolific sexual predators that we've ever seen in this country," Commander Kevin Southworth, from the Metropolitan Police, told the BBC.
Southworth added: "Such is the insidious nature of this offending, I think there is a possibility that many more victim survivors may not even know that he has raped them."
Detectives are asking any woman who may have spent any time alone with Zou - whether in China or in the UK - to come forward.
Survivors hailed for bravery in securing Zou’s convictionpublished at 09:55 British Summer Time

“I’d like to express my heartfelt thanks to the courageous women who came forward to report Zhenhao Zou’s heinous crimes,” Saira Pike, of the Crown Prosecution Service, said in a statement after the conviction of Zou.
She said the women were “incredibly strong and brave” in helping secure the guilty verdict.
Pike added that it was “incredibly challenging, having to review the evidence and see what he did to women, many of whom were unconscious and rendered defenceless by the drugs he had given them”.
“There is no doubt in my mind that if he had not been caught, he would still be carrying out his terrifying attacks on women today.”
How did Zou carry out his attacks?published at 09:47 British Summer Time

Image source, PA Media
Image caption,
A photo issued by police of belongings shown in the court case of Zhenhao Zou
Warning: this post contains distressing details
Two of the 10 women Zhenhao Zou has been charged with raping have been identified - eight have not.
When he was arrested in January 2024, police found hidden cameras, alcohol and drugs in his room.
Zou filmed nine assaults as "souvenirs" and police found a yellow Fendi "trophy box" in a wardrobe containing jewellery and clothing which they think may have belonged to women he raped.
They also found 1,277 videos - at least some filmed by Zou showing him raping unconscious women - filmed in both China and the UK.
He admitted that having sex with unconscious women was one of his fantasies, but he claimed the women in the videos found on his phone and cameras were "acting" to bring his rape fantasies to life in exchange for money and gifts. On his telephone police also found seven videos of him raping women in China. They were referred to in court as Females B, C, D, E, F, G, H.
Five of the women looked completely unconscious in the videos.
The wealthy student covering up his violent crimespublished at 09:40 British Summer Time

Image source, Reuters
Former PhD student Zhenhao Zou comes from a wealthy family, and had enough money to afford a Rolex watch, a wardrobe full of designer clothes and cosmetic procedures including a hair transplant and facial surgery.
He also rented a £4,000 per-month flat in London. Zou comes from Dongguan City, in southern China, close to Hong Kong. His family owned several properties in China and were able afford the hefty fees for his higher education in the UK.
His nickname was Pakho, the name some of the women he later raped knew him by.
He moved to Belfast in 2017 to study at Queen's University before heading to London in 2019 to do a master's degree and then a PhD at University College London (UCL).
Zou would meet women socially, or through social media, and then take them back to his flat where he would ply them with drink laced with drugs, according to Met Police Commander Kevin Southworth.
UCL said Zou was suspended on 27 January 2024 and he stopped studying there "as soon we were informed about the allegations".
Distressing details throughout this pagepublished at 09:35 British Summer Time

Given the nature of this case, this page will contain distressing details. For more support, details of help and support with sexual abuse or violence are available at BBC Action Line.
What Zhenhao Zou has been found guilty ofpublished at 09:33 British Summer Time

As we’ve mentioned, Zou was found guilty of a range of charges following a four-week trial earlier this year. The charges are as follows:
- 11 counts of rape, with two of the offences relating to one victim
- Three counts of voyeurism
- 10 counts of possession of an extreme pornographic image
- One count of false imprisonment
- Three counts of possession of a controlled drug with intent to commit a sexual offence
Seven of the rapes took place in China, with the remaining four in London. He was cleared of two further counts of possession of an extreme pornographic image, and five counts of possession of controlled drugs to commit a sexual offence.
Drug-rape student to be sentencedpublished at 09:30 British Summer Time

Image source, PA Media
Today at Inner London Crown Court, 28-year-old Zhenhao Zou will be sentenced for 11 rapes against 10 women, as well as a range of other crimes that took place between 2019 and 2024.
The Chinese national was found guilty of carrying out the rapes in China and London, using drugs to incapacitate his victims before the attacks, which he often filmed and kept videos of.
Four of the rapes occurred in London when he was a PhD student at University College London. Seven more occurred in China during the pandemic.
The prosecutions relating to attacks in China were possible because foreign nationals who are living in the UK can be charged with an offence committed abroad that is also illegal in the country where it took place.
The sentencing won’t be televised, but we have our reporters in court to bring you live updates.