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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
World
Tristan Kirk

Serial rapist attacks woman he met in street months after freed from prison

A serial rapist is facing a possible life sentence after a terrifying attack on a vulnerable woman he lured to his hotel room just months after being freed from prison.

Peter Ramsey, 38, was locked up in 2012 for 12 years after viciously beating and raping a legal secretary he had met on an online dating website.

Set free from prison, Ramsey struck again on May 15 this year when he was staying at a Best Western hotel in Wembley.

The predator offered the vulnerable woman help when she was in distress in the street, and invited her to his hotel room.

There, he overpowered the woman and strangled her while forcing her into sex.

At Harrow crown court on Monday, Ramsey appeared via videolink from HMP Wormwood Scrubs to plead guilty to rape and intentional strangulation.

“This is a rape where there is non-fatal strangulation embedded in it,” said prosecutor Usha Shergill.

“It facilitated Mr Ramsey’s actions, by him being able to overpower the complainant and temporarily strangle her.”

Judge Noel Lucas KC ordered a “dangerousness” report for Ramsey ahead of sentencing in September, and told him: “You are likely to receive a very significant sentence for this repeat offence of rape.”

Ramsey was convicted in 2012 for raping a woman he met the previous August on dating website plentyoffish.com.

The former personal trainer, then 26, knocked the woman’s front teeth out when she refused to give him a goodnight kiss, and left her with shocking facial wounds among 21 separate injuries.

Giving evidence at his trial, the woman said they had enjoyed a good date in Brixton but Ramsey “switched” as they got to her doorstep.

“I thought I was going to die,” she told Inner London crown court.

Ramsey was snared by DNA evidence and his use of the woman’s stolen Oyster card.

He was found guilty of rape, wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm and theft, and sentenced to 12 years in prison.

At Monday’s hearing, Ramsey’s barrister David Smith requested the court’s intervention to secure him extra protection in prison.

“It has now become known he is in prison for rape, and he is very concerned about his safety”, he said.

“Things are starting to be said to him, and we hope the governor will take notice and reconsider his status on the general wing.”

Judge Lucas asked for a message to be sent to the prison governor that Ramsey must have “adequate safety” while behind bars.

The court also heard of Ramsey’s partner who is planning to collect his car once it is released by police.

Ramsey has been remanded in custody until sentencing for the latest attack on September 4.

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