PhD student handed life sentence after raping women in England, China
NOTE: The following article contains disturbing details and video footage. Please read at your own discretion.
A British judge sentenced Chinese PhD student Zhenhao Zou to life with a minimum of 24 years in prison for drugging and raping 10 women in England and China.
Zou, 28, was convicted of the attacks, which took place between 2019 and 2023, during a four-week trial earlier this year at Inner London Crown Court.
Judge Rosina Cottage on Thursday described Zou as 'very bright young man' who used a manipulative, 'charming mask' to hide that he is a 'sexual predator.' Cottage told Zou he would serve 22 years and 227 days before he was eligible for parole, according to the London's Metropolitan Police Service.
A jury found him guilty of 28 offences in total, including counts of voyeurism, possession of an extreme pornographic image, possession of a drug to commit a sexual offence and false imprisonment.
Story continues below advertisement
'The lengthy sentence reflects justice for the women who are victim-survivors of Zou and is testament to the extraordinary lengths gone to by investigators, who left no stone unturned in their pursuit to take a dangerous sexual predator off the streets,' Metropolitan Police Service said in a statement.
Zou, who claimed the encounters were consensual, was studying for a PhD in mechanical engineering at University College London in 2023 when the first woman came forward to allege that he had raped her.
As part of the investigation, police seized Zou's phone, on which they found videos of him raping unconscious women. A search of his apartment in south London turned up sedatives and recording equipment.
Get daily National news
Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day. Sign up for daily National newsletter Sign Up
By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy
Investigators watched hundreds of videos as they built the case of evidence against Zou, which led to the conclusion that he had not only committed offences in London but also in China, according to police.
Police are still investigating Zou's crimes and at least 24 women have come forward with new allegations as a result of the publicity surrounding his trial.
Following a challenging and complex investigation, serial rapist Zhenhao Zou has been sentenced to life for drugging and raping 10 women.
Our thoughts are with the courageous victim-survivors of Zou's heinous and predatory crimes. https://t.co/vjVAWzaU94
— Metropolitan Police (@metpoliceuk) June 19, 2025
Story continues below advertisement
Zou, who also used the name Pakho online, befriended fellow students of Chinese heritage on dating apps and WeChat, before inviting them for drinks and drugging them at his apartments in London or an unknown location in China.
According to evidence presented at trial, Zou filmed nine of the attacks as 'souvenirs' using hidden or handheld cameras and kept a 'trophy box' of his victims' belongings.
Prosecutor Saira Pike praised the victims who came forward to report Zou's 'horrific crimes.'
'They have been incredibly strong and brave,' Pike said. 'There is no doubt that their evidence helped us to secure his conviction, and the life sentence handed to him today.'
Pike referred to Zou as 'a serial rapist' and 'a danger to women.'
'We have always been determined to seek justice for both the unidentified and identified victims in this case. We used an evidence-led approach that relied on the video recordings of Zou to ensure this dangerous predator faced justice,' Pike added.
'The prosecution team worked with the police for over a year to pick apart an unprecedented amount of footage and web chats showing his meticulous planning and the horrifying execution of his crimes,' she said.
Commander of the Metropolitan Police Service, Kevin Southworth, said that his thoughts 'have always been with the courageous victim-survivors of Zou's heinous and predatory crimes.'
Story continues below advertisement
'Thanks to the remarkable efforts of our officers and prosecutors, a dangerous and cowardly offender has been handed a life sentence. I hope the fact Zou can no longer harm others serves as a small amount of comfort to the women who have suffered immeasurably,' Southworth added.
He said that he wanted to 'stress that our investigation remains open' and police are continuing to 'appeal to anyone may think they have been a victim of Zou.'
'Please come forward and speak with our team – we will treat you with empathy, kindness and respect,' Southworth added.
Police encourage anyone with information about potential crimes relating to Zou to report them online or contact police via phone or email.
—With files from The Associated Press
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Global News
4 hours ago
- Global News
Man acquitted after B.C. judge rules he ‘likely' slashed woman but Crown couldn't prove it
A man accused of slashing a woman in the face in an apparent stranger attack in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside has been acquitted, even though the judge ruled it was 'more likely than not' that he was the accused. In a ruling delivered Thursday, Provincial Court Judge G.M. Rideout concluded that while it was possible Shone Robert Selbie was the attacker caught on CCTV, the evidence wasn't good enough to prove it beyond a reasonable doubt. 'It wasn't me,' Selbie told Global News outside the court. 'That's why the judge found me innocent.' 'I look like the person in the video,' he added. Selibe, who turns 52 this year, had been charged with a single count of aggravated assault in Aug. 11, 2024 attack in the 400 block of Cordova Street that left a woman with a serious laceration on her cheek. Story continues below advertisement 1:53 Vancouver machete attacker sentenced CCTV footage captured from two social housing buildings on the block depicts a man hunched over and swaying and holding a box cutter in his hand. In the video, he can be seen putting a woman into a headlock, appearing to slash her face, and then casually walking away. Get daily National news Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day. Sign up for daily National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy The case hinged on the identity of the accused, and the Crown's ability to prove it. At trial, the Crown pointed to the CCTV images themselves, along with testimony from a Vancouver police officer who had interacted with Selbie twice that summer and identified him in court from the images. At trial, prosecutors argued Selbie had a distinctive face with prominent features, including crooked and pointy nose, high cheekbones, and sunken cheeks with deep-set eyes. On the stand, the officer further testified he was '100 per cent certain' Selbie was the person depicted in the CCTV images that had been compiled into a police information bulletin. Story continues below advertisement Selbie's defence argued the CCTV footage was of average quality, and never caught a clear full facial image of the attacker. It also noted that the officer had pointed to the attacker's Nike shoes as a distinctive identifying characteristic, but had incorrectly described the logo on them as black when it was actually white. 0:54 Vancouver police safety trailer vandalized in Downtown Eastside In acquitting Selbie, Rideout agreed the CCTV footage shows someone with a pointed nose, but acknowledged it never caught a full facial view of the suspect. 'Clearly there are some physical characteristics of the suspect in the CCTV footage consistent with the accused's appearance in court,' he ruled. 'I am unable to say with any confidence that the suspect in the CCTV footage is the accused before this court.' Story continues below advertisement The identifying officer, he added, does not have any special training in identification, and 'agreed in cross-examination that some of the characteristics he identifies as distinctive to the accused can also apply to other individuals.' Rideout noticed that in the CCTV footage, the suspect had a distinctive walk, a 'physical hunch-like walk consistent with drug addicts' known in the Downtown Eastside as the 'benzo gait.' The identifying officer, he said, never noticed anything distinctive about Selbie's gait in the two interactions he had with the accused that summer. 0:30 Vancouver police officer slashed with knife in Downtown Eastside Those interactions, together, lasted for about 45 minutes — not enough for his level of familiarity with Selbie to rise to the level of being 'so well acquainted' with him to make his identification 'certain and safe,' Rideout said. 'His recognition evidence is insufficiently reliable to assist the court in identifying the accused as the suspect in the identification bulletin,' Rideout ruled. Story continues below advertisement That led the judge to conclude that while Selbie was more likely than not the attacker, the Crown hadn't met the threshold of proof beyond a reasonable doubt. 'The inherent frailties of identification evidence are well known to the law and have been the subject of frequent judicial consideration and comment,' he said, quoting a legal precedent. 'We must, however, never regard these principles as trite. They are fundamental.'
Global News
6 hours ago
- Global News
Support grows for search of Regina landfill for missing Indigenous woman
More and more people are joining the call for the City of Regina and Regina Police to search the landfill in hopes of discovering missing women from Regina. Global News' Andrew Benson has more on the family and supporters of the Bear family, all hoping for closure and dignity. Get breaking National news For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen. Sign up for breaking National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy Check out the video at the top of the page for the full story. View image in full screen Richele Bear went missing in 2013. Andrew Benson / Global News
Global News
8 hours ago
- Global News
Jet skier fined $5,000 for dolphin encounter near Vancouver Island
A man seen speeding on a Jet Ski towards a pod of Pacific white sided dolphins has been fined $5,000 and has been banned from posting anything related to marine mammals on social media. The man was found guilty last November in B.C. provincial court for violating marine mammal regulations after his trial heard he raced towards the pod and came within metres of them while filming on his cellphone. Witnesses said the man, who was in the waters near Port McNeill off northeastern Vancouver Island in August 2022, was much closer than the 100-metre legal distance required to stay away from dolphins. Get breaking National news For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen. Sign up for breaking National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy The Fisheries Department says in a statement released Thursday that the court ruled in a decision last month that the man's actions were 'negligent and reckless.' The statement doesn't say how long the man will have to refrain from posting about marine mammals on social media, but he also faces a six-month prohibition from operating any motorized vessel on water. Story continues below advertisement It says the case is the first successful prosecution in Canada under Marine Mammal Regulations over distance provisions keeping vessels away from marine wildlife. It statement says dolphins and killer whales relying on echolocating to navigate their environment and close encounters with a vessels can disrupt their natural behaviour and interfere with signals they use to forage and socialize.
