Serial rapist Zhenhao Zou jailed for minimum of 24 years

London student who police fear may have drugged and raped more than 60 women receives life sentence

Alexandra Topping

Thu 19 Jun 2025 18.04 BST

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A serial rapist feared to be one of the worst sexual offenders in British history has been jailed for life with a minimum term of 24 years for drugging and raping 10 women in the UK and China.

Zhenhao Zou, a 28-year-old PhD student, drugged and filmed himself raping women between 2019 and 2024 after luring them to his flat with invitations to study or have drinks. Police fear more than 50 other women could be victims.

Since his conviction, more than 20 women have come forward to police, and still more remain unidentified, with police fearing there may be dozens more.

Zou remained impassive as Judge Cottage KC said he was “a highly manipulative and intelligent young man who gave no thought at all of the wishes and feelings of the women” he penetrated and filmed. They were, she said, “simply pieces in an elaborate game for one: you”.

Telling the Chinese national that he would spend at least 24 years in a UK prison before being considered for parole, she said he posed a “significant risk” and had an “abiding sexual interest in asserting … power and control over women”.

After the sentencing at Inner London crown court on Thursday, detectives urged women in the UK and China to come forward if they suspected they were one of Zou’s victims. Since an international appeal was made after the trial in March, 24 women have come forward.

“The sheer scale of his offending, which spanned two countries, makes him one of the most prolific predators we have ever seen,” said DCI Richard Mackenzie.

In statements read out to the court, victims described how Zou’s violations had destroyed their lives. One rape victim said she had been filled with “romantic anticipation” when she met Zou, but after a night out she had woken to find him “thrusting violently against my body”. “What happened that night is etched into my soul forever,” she said. “His face, his expression – they will never leave me.”

Her memories caused migraines, physical pain and an “overwhelming urge to scrub myself clean”, she said.

Another victim, who has bipolar disorder, described the disintegration of her mental health. Anxious that others would be attacked she posted about the assault on social media, but was blamed by some users who asked why she had been drinking and gone to his house. “I no longer believe in the inherent goodness of people,” she said.

Commander Kevin Southworth, of the Metropolitan police, assured any women who feared they may have been one of Zou’s victims that they would be treated with “empathy, kindness and respect” if they came forward to police.

“Thanks to the remarkable efforts of our officers and prosecutors, a dangerous and cowardly offender will now spend the next 24 years behind bars,” he said.

The court was told that Zou had filmed nine rapes as “souvenirs”, but only two of his victims had been identified by the time he stood trial, with a third woman from China contacting police since.

Zou, who in court admitted to watching extreme pornography depicting unconscious women being raped, was convicted in March of raping three women in London and seven in China after a month-long trial. He was convicted of 28 offences in total, including 11 rapes against 10 women, numerous counts of voyeurism, and possessing extreme pornography and drugs to commit sexual offences.

Zou grew up in Guangdong province and came to Britain in 2017 to study at Queen’s University Belfast. He started studying for a master’s at University College London in 2019, travelling back to China occasionally, and by the time of his arrest in January 2024 was studying for a PhD in mechanical engineering.

The jury heard that Zou used social media platforms and dating websites to target his victims, using the name Pakho online. He would ask young women, often Chinese students living away from home, to come back to his flat to study or have a drink.

After his arrest at his flat in the Elephant and Castle area in January 2024, police discovered 1,664 hours of footage, including 58 videos of rapes filmed on secret cameras. They also found designer clothing and bags, a Rolex watch, and a box believed to contain “souvenirs” from his victims.

Many of the women, who are all believed to be of Chinese heritage, could be heard pleading for him to stop before they lost consciousness. One woman could be heard stating: “I really don’t want … I beg you, don’t do this.”

Zou replied: “Don’t push me, it’s pointless … The sound insulation here is very good.”

Another woman could be heard repeatedly crying out for her mother. The judge said: “You calmly and inexorably ignored their pleas.”

During the trial Zou bragged about having several new sexual partners every week and spoke of liking pornography in which the “females are passive and unresponsive during sex”. Asked why, Zou replied: “I like it because the girl appears to be still and quiet when they are having sex.”

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5740551&forum_id=2...id.#49032717)