Blackpool rapist caged

A Blackpool man who preyed on vulnerable women when they were drunk has been found guilty of a rape in the resort '“ while on bail for another in West Yorkshire.
Preston Crown CourtPreston Crown Court
Preston Crown Court

Kering Sambou, 39, chose his victims knowing their defences were down after plying them with drink in the hours before he raped them.

One of his victims was so drunk she passed out on the bed in the hotel room at the Spring Grove Guest House, Kirkburton, Huddersfield, where Sambou had checked in to stay the night.

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His second victim described herself as “wasted” after Sambou approached her outside her home in Blackpool and invited her back to his flat to drink and smoke cannabis.

Joe Allman, prosecuting, said: “Mr Sambou is very good at selecting those who he chooses to do this to.”

The women – who can not be named for legal reasons – did not know each other, but each spoke of finding themselves partially naked and in a state of distress after their ordeal. The first woman woke alone in the hotel room with her jumpsuit torn and some of her underwear removed.

As she tried to piece together the events of the previous night she was faced with the shocking realisation she had been raped.

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The second woman was found naked from the waist down, calling out for help, in the street outside Sambou’s flat, after being attacked by him.

During the trial the jury was shown chilling CCTV footage of Sambou returning to the Spring Grove Guest House, after leaving his first victim passed out on the bed.

They also saw harrowing bodycam footage taken by one of the police officers who found his second victim and called for an ambulance.

Sambou initially denied having sex with the first woman but swabs taken from the woman later revealed DNA evidence proving he had.

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He changed his story, claiming the woman had invited him into bed, but the jury did not believe him and he was convicted of rape.

The attacker was on bail for the first offence when he struck again, raping the second woman at his flat in Park Road, Blackpool.

Mr Allman said: “The evidence of two women, independently alleging rape against Kering Sambou points overwhelmingly towards guilt.”

The jury at Preston Crown Court accepted the women’s accounts and took less than three hours to convict Sambou of rape. Judge Heather Lloyd remanded him in custody, and warned him he faces a prison sentence when he returns to court on November 11.