Sex worker rapes: Sajad Jamalvatan jailed for 19 years

Sajad Jamalvatan hid his true nature by playing the role of a straight-laced PhD student, Isleworth Crown Court heard

A man who raped two sex workers has been jailed for 19 years.

Sajad Jamalvatan, 25, targeted them between August and October 2019, using escort websites to arrange meetings with the women at his flat in Chelsea.

He would pretend to transfer money to them via a banking app and when they saw he had not done so and protested or tried to leave, he attacked them.

Jamalvatan, a survivor of the Grenfell Tower fire, was also banned for life from contacting sex workers.

Isleworth Crown Court heard Jamalvatan - who was convicted of five counts of rape at a previous hearing - had been "parading as a straight-laced PhD student who was looking after his auntie and mother, which couldn't be further from the truth".

Det Con James Drummond from the Met Police added: "Jamalvatan is a man who has a very clear victim profile - vulnerable women.

"He felt the women he targeted were not worthy of his respect, and he sought to undermine their reports of rape by suggesting to police that they were not trustworthy because of their work."

On one occasion, after subjecting one victim to an attack lasting over an hour, Jamalvatan said he was "not a bad person", but had taken Class A drugs which caused him to be violent.

He also insisted that this was the first time he had ever committed such an act.

Police say they believe there may be other women who have also been subjected to assaults by Jamalvatan, and have urged them to come forward.