Austin Osayande of Leeds jailed after raping woman

Austin Osayande, 40, of Sissons Road, in the Middleton area of Leeds was sentenced to 16 years in prison at Leeds Crown Court today for rape and assault by penetration.

He initially pleaded not guilty when he appeared at the same court via videolink in October last year.

But he admitted both offences at a hearing at Leeds Crown Court on January 27.

The rape charge relates to an offence that happened in 2015, while the assault by penetration happened in 2021.

Osayande evaded justice for the first offence for more than six years - despite extensive enquiries and appeals by detectives - but was caught after giving a DNA sample while in custody for the latest offence.

On Friday, August 14 in 2015, in the early hours, the 40-year-old approached the victim - a 24-year-old woman - in Kirkgate, as she was walking to get a taxi home.

Osayande spoke to her and walked alongside her on Briggate and onto The Headrow, before they reached Dortmund Square.

He then picked her up in his arms and carried her to a secluded doorway in nearby Mark Lane, next to the St John’s shopping centre, where he raped her.

Police released sinister CCTV footage of the moment Osayande picks up the victim and carries her away at the time, as part of an appeal to the public for information.

You can watch that footage here...

Detective Superintendent Pat Twiggs, Head of Crime for Leeds District, said in 2015: “The footage of the victim being carried off by this man clearly makes for disturbing viewing.

"We gave very careful consideration to releasing it and secured the consent of the victim who has been left understandably traumatised by what this man did to her.

“I think the CCTV gives a really stark illustration of the very serious nature of this offence and we hope it will focus the public’s minds on helping us to identify and trace the man responsible.”

The investigation saw hundreds of hours of CCTV gathered and reviewed, and widespread enquiries with licensed premises and other city centre businesses, as well as with hundreds of people who had been out in the city centre that night.

Detectives trawled CCTV footage and built up a picture of the suspect’s movements.

This showed him loitering in a car park in Swinegate before approaching a woman in the street shortly before the attack.

That woman was never traced despite public appeals.

He was also shown casually walking through the city centre along Briggate.

Forensic work identified a DNA sample of the suspect from the victim, but this did not match anyone recorded on the police database.

Longer-term work by the investigation team included looking at familial DNA in an effort to identify males who were on the database who could be relatives of the suspect, but this did not result in Osayande being identified.

Police then received a report from a woman on September 10 last year.

She reported that she had been sexually assaulted in her home in Leeds by a delivery driver.

This time police were able to quickly identify the suspect, who turned out to be Osayande.

He was arrested the same day, but denied the offence and was released on bail with conditions while enquiries continued.

A DNA sample was taken from him while in custody for this offence.

It was processed and found to be a match to the 2015 attack.

Osayande was then arrested in relation to that incident too.

He was subsequently charged with rape for that and assault by penetration for the 2021 offence.

Temporary Assistant Chief Constable Pat Twiggs, said: “Osayande is the absolute embodiment of a dangerous sexual predator.

"The CCTV footage from 2015 shows him prowling the streets in the early hours, hunting for a woman to sexually attack for his own twisted gratification.

“The traumatic impact that his appalling actions have caused to the victims of both these offences cannot be underestimated.

“We commend the bravery, tenacity and patience they have shown, and it is genuinely satisfying that we have finally been able to justify their faith in the police by getting justice for them and their families.

“We explored all possible lines of enquiry at the time of the 2015 attack and in the months and years that followed, but frustratingly we were unable to identify the suspect.

"We had a DNA profile but there was no match on the national database.

“Although we had exhausted all avenues, the case was never closed and there was still the hope of a breakthrough one day if the suspect were to be arrested for another offence where his DNA was taken.

“In other investigations in the past, that further offence has often been a victimless low-level crime, but sadly in this case another woman had to suffer at Osayande’s hands for him to be caught.

"Thankfully, he will now spend a considerable amount of time in prison and be unable to hurt anyone else.

“The successful outcome of this case again shows the value of DNA and expert forensic analysis in support of serious crime investigations."

T/ACC Pat Twiggs added: “Our appeal over the attack in 2015 received a high level of media coverage and I want to formally thank the media for the valuable role they played in raising public awareness of the incident.

“While it didn’t help us directly solve the crime, it did maintain public interest for a sustained period of time and encouraged people to come forward with information and suggested suspects, and we are also grateful to all those people.

“Most importantly, I want to reassure women that West Yorkshire Police will always treat sexual offences such as these very seriously and devote all the available skills and techniques of specialist investigators to pursue every opportunity to get justice for victims.

“We want victims of sexual violence to come forward and be confident they will be supported by us and treated with compassion and respect.

“Women and girls should be safe to walk the streets of West Yorkshire free from the fear of violence and harassment, and our recently launched Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy reinforces our commitment to increasing our focus alongside our partner organisations to make the county a safer place.”

In an extract from a Victim Personal Impact statement, Osayande’s victim from 2015 said: “Since you raped me, I try not to live in a world of fear but find myself feeling uneasy when alone, when its dark, and making my way home.

"Anyone should be able to do this without being subjected to rape.

“I hope the sentencing you receive today reflects justice for not only myself but for the other victim and victims that may come forward.

“You claim to be sorry for your actions now, you were never sorry because if you were you would have come forward, you never would have repeated such an awful crime many years down the line.

"The only reason your sorry is because today justice has prevailed and your sorry you were caught.”