A man has been sentenced to 13 years in prison for two counts of rape following a successful investigation by Metropolitan Police detectives.
Rashane Lee, 26, of Old Kent Road, Southwark, was found guilty at Inner London Crown Court after forensic evidence linked him to a violent sexual assault on a lone woman in Central London. The jury returned a unanimous verdict after less than two hours of deliberation.
The court heard that on 1 June 2024, the victim had been out for the day with her sister and friends. As she made her way home shortly after 11pm, she was approached by Lee, who claimed they were heading in the same direction. Despite the victim’s attempts to decline his company, Lee persisted and later led her to a secluded area where he raped her.
The victim reported the attack to police, triggering a fast-moving investigation. Detectives trawled CCTV footage to trace the suspect and forensic analysis later identified a DNA match to Lee, with a probability of one billion to one.
Lee was arrested on 11 June 2024 at his partner’s address. Despite the overwhelming DNA evidence, he denied the allegations, bizarrely claiming that the samples were faulty or contaminated and even alleging that his DNA had “changed.”
“This verdict is testament to the bravery of the victim whose evidence helped us secure this conviction,” said Detective Constable Jack Woods, who led the investigation. “Despite farcical claims by Lee that the DNA secured was either contaminated or simply not his, the jury saw through this, and this resulted in today’s lengthy sentence.”
“Lee is an extremely dangerous individual who deliberately targeted a lone woman and hoped that because she had had a few drinks she would be too confused to come forward to police. This was not the case and despite his arrogance, there was no doubt to his guilt,” DC Woods added.
It later emerged that Lee was already on the sex offenders register at the time of his arrest, having previously been convicted of rape in 2016 under similar circumstances. He had been released from prison in September 2022 and was being monitored by the Probation Service and the Met’s Jigsaw team in a limited capacity.
In addition to his 13-year custodial sentence, the court imposed a seven-year extension to Lee’s licence period, meaning he will remain under strict supervision upon release.
Police hope the case sends a clear message that no matter the circumstances, reports of sexual violence will be taken seriously and rigorously investigated.
“We will always do everything we can to ensure that predators like Lee are taken off the streets,” DC Woods said.
