London: Man Charged with Serial Rape

Some weeks ago we reported on a series of rapes taking place in London. Today, we can report that the alleged perpetrator has been seized by the police and now faces a lengthy spell behind bars.

A man has been charged after a manhunt for an alleged rapist feared to be targeting women on London night buses.

Abdallah Baballah, 23, has been charged with four attacks that were reported within 11 days in east London.

The Metropolitan Police said the 23-year-old, of no fixed abode, had been charged with two rapes, two attempted rapes and four counts of robbery.

“A man has been charged by detectives investigating a series of sexual assaults in Newham and Waltham Forest,” a spokesperson added.

“He has been remanded in custody to appear at Thames Magistrates’ Court on Monday.”

Mr Baballah has been charged with raping a woman on 1 July on a residential street in the Plaistow South area of Newham.

He is also charged with attempting to rape another woman near Leyton Tube station on Saturday, 6 July.

Mr Baballah is accused of a second rape later the same day on nearby Amethyst Road, in Waltham Forest.

He is charged with the attempted rape of a fourth woman on 11 July in the Central Park Road area of East Ham. He is also accused of robbing the four alleged victims. 

Police had previously warned women taking London walking alone at night to “remain vigilant” and inform family and friends of their whereabouts.

Investigators said that the two women who had been raped had disembarked from night buses shortly before being assaulted, in the early hours of the morning. 

The alleged victims had been on their way home from work in central London bars and restaurants, and had been approached by a man before the attacks.