‘Britain’s worst rapist’: How Chinese PhD student drugged and raped over 60 women in 5 years

He lived on the 39th floor of an expensive block of London flats with views across the city. Most of his dates described him as charming and a gentleman. But behind this charming personality, Chinese national, Zhenhao Zou, who was studying for a PhD in engineering at University College London (UCL), hid a terrifying truth: the 28-year-old was a serial rapist.

Now, the 28-year-old has been convicted of drugging and raping 10 women following a four-week trial at Inner London Crown Court. But the horror doesn’t stop there; detectives fear that Zou could be one of Britain’s most prolific rapists — raping as many as 50 more women.

But who exactly is Zhenhao Zou and how has he been unmasked as one of Britain’s worst rapists one of Britain’s worst rapists?

Who is Zhenhao Zou?

Zou was born in Guangdong Province in southern China with the jury being told that his father works in a state-owned enterprise and his mother is a teacher. At the age of 20, he moved to Northern Ireland to complete his mechanical engineering degree at Queen’s University, Belfast. In September 2019, he moved to London to pursue his Masters in mechanical engineering at UCL, but returned to China the following year amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

Zou revealed to investigators that during his stay in London he started using drugs, including ketamine, cocaine and ecstasy. His social life revolved around nightclubs and London’s Chinese community, and he would go on dates after meeting women on apps and then take them home and rape them.

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He further told the court he surfed the internet for extreme pornography; he said he liked videos showing sex with women sleeping and that it was the lack of response from a woman that excited him. In fact, when asked about the pornography, he viewed, the 28-year-old revealed that he liked “time-stop” pornography, in which “the females are passive and unresponsive during sex”. Asked in court why he preferred that type of sexually explicit material, Zou replied: “I like it because the girl appears to be still and quiet when they are having sex.”

Zou also appeared to be well-off. He had undergone hair transplants after his hair fell out due to chronic insomnia, as well as work on his eyelids and chin.

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What did investigations against Zou reveal?

A police investigation began against Zou in 2023 after a woman came forward claiming to have been raped by a man who had given her a large quantity of alcohol at his student flat in Woburn Place.

This led detectives to his expensive house where he kept large amounts of alcohol, ecstasy and an industrial chemical that the human body turns into the “date rape” drug GHB. They also uncovered videos on his electronic devices showing him raping unconscious women.

One video showed an unconscious woman waking up while Zou was raping her, begging him to stop. The visuals show that Zou responded, “Don’t push me, it’s pointless… The sound insulation here is very good.”

The authorities also found that Zou kept a box of items, which he claimed was “lost property” — but the prosecution said it was a “trophy box” of items belonging to his victims.

Based on the videos the detectives found, police believe more than 50 other women may have fallen prey to the engineering student, which would make him one of the worst sex offenders the UK has seen. Officers also believe around 25 of those victims were raped in the UK and around 25 in China.

Another woman during the trial revealed that she had gone out with Zou in September 2021 and had met at a hotpot restaurant in London’s Chinatown called Haidilao. The woman then said that she got very drunk on Jack Daniel’s whiskey and woke up to find Zou having sex with her in his student flat. She told the jury that in a phone call a few weeks later “he said to me that he thought I was conscious at the time, but I didn’t agree”.

Some videos show victims’ speech “slurred”, with some clearly “upset” but unable to do anything because of the drugs. In another, Zou looks at the camera while his victim can be seen with bruising around her left eye and cheekbone. Audio from the video, in Mandarin, shows Zou ignoring pleas for mercy, taunting one victim after she complains of his attack: “It really hurts.”

What do officials say about Zou?

Zou’s crimes, according to Met Detective Chief Inspector Richard Mackenzie, were one of the most complex investigations ever conducted by Scotland Yard. Officers had to examine more than nine million Wechat messages in Mandarin and watch more than 1,600 hours of video footage.

Mackenzie was further quoted as saying, “Due to the nature of his offending, we believe some of the women may not even be aware that they are victims. We do not underestimate how distressing and difficult it may be for them to read or hear about his crimes following his verdicts.”

“We want to reassure those women that all reports will be fully investigated and dealt with utmost sensitivity and care and compassion.

“However, we also understand that not every victim may wish to speak to the police, so we have taken advice from the independent charity of rape crisis and they will be on hand to offer support to women who seek support via their 24/7 helpline.”

Commander Kevin Southworth, from the Metropolitan Police, also described Zou as “one of the most prolific sexual predators that we’ve ever seen in this country”.

He was quoted by the BBC as saying, “Zou is plainly a depraved and cowardly individual who’s preyed on his victim survivors in the most despicable manner.”

Prosecutor Catherine Farrelly KC also described Zou as appearing to be “a smart and charming young man” but ultimately revealed himself to be “a persistent sexual predator, a voyeur, and a rapist”.

“He was a wolf in sheep’s clothing and every woman’s nightmare. He was a man who was sexually excited by having sex with a sleeping woman … and sexually excited by the idea of rape. He is a serial rapist, he is a predator. He would use drink or drugs to incapacitate women,” she said.

What has Zou been found guilty of?

On Wednesday (March 5), Zou was found guilty of drugging and raping 10 women in England and China. He was also convicted of three counts of voyeurism, 10 of possession of an extreme pornographic image, one of false imprisonment and three of possession of a controlled drug with intent to commit a sexual offence, namely butanediol.

However, the 28-year-old PhD student was cleared of two further counts of possession of an extreme pornographic image and one of possession of MDMA with intent to commit a sexual offence.

Zou joins Britain’s club of most prolific sexual predators, including Reynhard Sinaga and Black cab rapist John Worboys. Sinaga, now 42, was convicted of 159 sex attacks on 48 heterosexual men in Manchester between 2015 and 2017. It was later revealed that Sinaga – who incapacitated victims with the date rape drug GHB – had preyed on at least 195 different men after police found footage he filmed of the attacks.

Worboys, who is 67 years of age, was convicted of 19 sex attacks against 12 women between 2006 and 2008. Worboys gave victims drug-laced champagne before attacking them in his cab. He is believed to have raped or sexually assaulted more than 100 women before he was caught.

With inputs from agencies