Serial rapist Sunny Islam wins open prison move after east London attacks

Sunny Islam, convicted of seven rapes across east London in 2010, has secured a move to open prison. His parole hearing will be held in private after he cited anxiety over public proceedings.

Serial rapist Sunny Islam moves closer to release after parole ruling

Sunny Islam, 38, who carried out a three-month series of violent sex attacks across east London in 2010, has won a move to an open prison, standard.co.uk reports. His case will be reviewed at an upcoming Parole Board hearing held entirely behind closed doors — a decision that overruled one victim's application for public proceedings.

Islam was convicted at Woolwich Crown Court in 2012 of seven counts of rape, one count of sexual assault and one of imprisonment. He received an indefinite sentence with a minimum term of 11 years, which expired in 2021 owing to time already served.

During his attacks, Islam armed himself with a knife and plastic cable ties, dragging victims from the street, tying them up and subjecting them to severe beatings. Police have indicated there may be further victims who have never come forward.

Private hearing granted despite victim's objection

One victim applied for the Parole Board hearing to be held in public. That application was rejected after Islam's legal team argued that the prospect of a public session had caused him significant distress.

Islam's solicitor submitted: "Since learning that an application has been made for the oral hearing to be held in public, the prisoner has reported a dramatic increase in his anxiety, including sleep disturbance. This could be a potentially de-stabilising effect."

The solicitor acknowledged that no medical documentation had been produced to support the claim, citing the short time elapsed since Islam became aware of the application. Despite the absence of documentary evidence, Judge Jeremy Roberts ruled against public proceedings, citing both Islam's reported anxiety and the potential impact on other victims whose views on a public hearing are not known.

The attacks

Islam was 21 when he began the series of assaults in the summer of 2010. In July of that year he beat a 20-year-old sex worker and subjected her to a double rape. Later that same month he kidnapped, strangled and sexually assaulted a 28-year-old woman in Forest Gate.

Police connected Islam's vehicle registration to those earlier attacks after he abducted a 15-year-old girl from the street in September 2010. Islam drove the girl to an isolated location and raped her, telling her he was going to "teach her a lesson" for being out alone at night. He ignored her repeated pleas in which she told him she was only 11.

When officers raided Islam's home address in Barking, blood found in his car was traced to a fourth victim — a 31-year-old woman who had been tied up, severely beaten and raped.

Victims' words

The 15-year-old victim described the lasting effect of the attack in a written statement. "No one will ever understand the flashbacks, they are so real," she wrote. "At night I lay in my bed and it is like I am there. It is like a screen in my mind forcing me to relive that night again and again. People will say time will heal, but I think time has helped me accept the truth — that I will never escape what happened."

At sentencing, Judge Patricia Lees addressed Islam directly: "You told her you were going to 'teach her a lesson'... Those words are a chilling indictment of your very troubling attitude towards all of these victims. You seem to observe women out at night as not deserving respect or protection. The harm you have done to your victims is incalculable."

Islam told police at the time that he came from a devout Muslim background.

The Parole Board has been approached for comment.

Source: The Sun