A man has been sentenced to more than ten years in jail after raping a woman.

Abdullahi Mohammed, 30, of Walting Avenue, Burnt Oak, was jailed at Harrow Crown Court on Monday (August 19) for attempting rape, raping and threatening to kill a woman in her 30s at her address on September 27, 2018.

He was sentenced with ten years and two month’s imprisonment and five years extended licence for his rape charge.

Sentencing of imprisonment for his other charges – the attempted rape charge (ten years and two month’s), threatening to kill charge (four and a half years) and possession of a pointed or bladed article charge (15 months) – will run concurrently with his rape sentencing.

Mr Mohammed pleaded guilty of all these offences at an earlier hearing in February.

The attacker was believed to be a vague acquaintance of the victim’s family. On the day of the attack, he randomly contacted the victim to visit, which she tried to avoid as they had not been in contact for a while, but he arrived at her house anyway.

She offered to make Mr Mohammed some tea, but once he was inside the kitchen the attacker grabbed her from behind and threatened her with a knife. He then forced her into the lounge before raping her, during which he threw the knife out of a window into the communal area.

After the attack, Mr Mohammed left the property to retrieve the knife. During the retrieval, the victim alerted a neighbour who then managed to photograph the attacker picking up the weapon.

Detective Sergeant Andy Cook of the North Area Safeguarding Unit said: “The judge in the case described Abdullahi Mohammed as 'predatory' and 'dangerous' and I am glad he will now spend a considerable amount of time in jail.

“I would like to praise the woman for her courage in both reporting this to police and supporting this prosecution. I can only hope that Mohammed’s conviction and sentencing brings her some form of closure.”

Police were called and Mr Mohammed was arrested later that day.