A court has sentenced a Kingston undergraduate to eight years in jail after finding him guilty of the vicious rape of a stranger.

21 year old Imran Rathore raped a Chiswick woman he dragged from the street because "she did not treat him respectfully."

The attack happened in August last year as the 34 year old Polish victim walked home around midnight.

The court heard how several people living in the flats near Kew Bridge where the attack took place heard screams but didn’t call the police. It was a woman was passing by the scene in a car and saw the victim being dragged from the pavement who dialed 999.

The suspect was eventually found in a silver Audi "very out of breath."

Presiding Judge Sam Katkhuda told the accused, "Women should expect to be able to walk along the street minding their own business without being attacked by people like you - subjected to this sort of disgraceful behaviour. This was somebody not known to you whatsoever and when she didn't want to have anything to do with you, you attacked her, taking all her dignity away from her, subjecting her to things she didn't want to do. You just carried on,"

Imran Rathore from Watford pleaded guilty to two charges of rape. He was sentenced to eight years in prison and will remain on the sex offenders' register for life.


March 4, 2008