A triple rapist who carried out sadistic attacks on London sex workers has been jailed for life after the Stephen Lawrence case double jeopardy law was used to bring him to justice.
Duwayne Henry, 34, who called himself “The Ripper” and equipped his Hackney flat like a torture chamber, was initially acquitted over his first rape because his victim could not testify.
But when evidence emerged that he had carried out two more rapes, prosecutors won permission from the Court of Appeal to reactivate the first case and charge Henry with all three crimes. He was last night convicted of the rapes by a jury at Blackfriars crown court.
The court heard Henry called an escort agency before luring the women to his flat. He tied them up before raping them, using a knife to terrify the women into submission. He was brought to justice after his final victim escaped when a man heard her screams and entered the flat to release her.
The woman had seen a belt, shears, a saw, pliers, seven knives, a circular saw and a hedge trimmer at the flat.
Baljit Ubhey, chief crown prosecutor for London, said: “Henry put these women through terrifying ordeals thinking because they were sex workers he was untouchable. He was wrong.”
