East London News A Force for the community…
A STUDENT has started a four year jail sentence handed down at Wood Green Crown Court earlier this month. Rami Othmane, 21, who is originally from Sicily but was living in Hackney when the offence was committed, had pleaded guilty to a charge of attempted rape when he appeared in Court in February.
The court heard that on 22nd January a member of staff in a CCTV control room saw Othmane attempting to force himself onto a woman at a bus stop on Allerton Road, Hackney. The CCTV controller called police, who immediately went to the bus stop. Although the woman was still there, her attacker had gone.
The victim did not wish to be part of the police investigation which followed. Police were able to follow the suspect on CCTV. They then made door to door inquiries in the area where he had been and a resident recognised the suspect as Othmane and gave police his address. Police called at that address, and as they spoke to Othmane they saw the coat he was wearing in the CCTV footage. On that basis they arrested him and charged him with attempted rape.
Detective Constable Dave Barrett led the investigation. He said, “It is with huge thanks to the diligent CCTV operator who spotted this alarming incident and immediately called police, allowing the officers to act quickly and locate the victim and ultimately put this man behind bars.
“We fully respect the victim’s decision not to make a report but we hope today’s outcome proves that we took this incident, like all sexual offences, extremely seriously and will work tirelessly to trace those who think they can commit atrocious crimes such as this.
“Othmane is a dangerous individual and he may well have caused serious harm to others if he wasn’t apprehended.”
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