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Registered
Abi with Lanre Onabowale.
Caged ... monster Blayde was
locked up for 18 years for rape
Abi's orgy pal jailed for rape spree
An evil 'conman' drugged and raped four women after becoming an instant celebrity over his role in a sex scandal involving glamour model Abi Titmuss, a court has heard.
Lanre Onabowale, 28, pretended to be a wealthy American basketball player called Jayson Blayde and was photographed by the paparazzi leaving a trendy London nightclub with the curvaceous blonde.
Days later downmarket Sunday newspapers c
arried his lurid kiss and tell revelations of how he enjoyed cocaine-fuelled group sex and bondage romps' with Abi and her TV presenter boyfriend John Leslie, who filmed the impromptu 'orgies' at his £2m home.
Onabowale justified the expose, by claiming he was 'blowing the whistle' on the former Blue Peter presenter for being 'depraved' and 'out of control.'
But no words could have more aptly described the Nigerian-born surgeon's son and soon-to-be serial rapist.
In June 2004, five months after his brief flirtation with fame, Onabowale committed the first of four rapes on young women he met at nightclubs or parties.
All four women were raped over an 18-month period after spurning the advances of the smooth-talking African.
A 'sexual predator who does not take no for an anwer,' he plied them with drink, probably spiked with a date rape drug, before attacking them as they lay unconscious.
All the victims went to police, but it was only following the final sex attac
k that Onabowale was locked up and the Crown Prosecution Service decided there was sufficent evidence to press charges.
Yesterday Onabowale was found guilty of the rapes by a jury at Hull Crown Court and jailed for 18 years.
Describing him as a 'monster', Judge John Swanson said his victims would 'never forget' him.
He said:'By one means or another you deceived women in to thinking they were safe with you. There was a pattern of selecting women that you considered to be sexually attractive. You consistently and deliberately courted situations where you could satisfy your own sexual pleasure.'
The court heard how Onabowale cruised the VIP areas of top London nightclubs to pick up women. He charmed them with his rapping, tales of celebrity encounters and fictitious stories about being a basketball star.
Onabowale told the court he would organise parties and go to clubs such as China Whites and Funky Buddha and drink copious amounts of champagne and brandy.
He spoke about a ca
sual approach to sex, boasting:'It was very relaxed. There were times when you would go out most nights and meet someone. I would have sex with them. The ladies that joined us knew we like to party all night and would come across and join us. They came out to have fun.'
These conquests included pin-up Abi Titmuss, the court heard. Miss Titmuss originally became known through her relationship with John Leslie, but later forged a 'celebrity' career for herself by doing topless modelling and taking part in reality TV shows.
Onabowale's newspaper recollections of his two wild nights with Abi earnt him more than £60,000 and helped fund his party lifestyle.
And before long he crossed the line from party animal to sex attacker.
In June 2004 he was introduced to a 25-year-old boutique manager at Browns nightclub in London's West End. The woman told the court she left with friends and later met up with Onabowale's group again.
She said she was offered and took cocaine from him and
he then made a pass at her. 'I said he was a cool guy, but I was not interested,' she said. 'I had a boyfriend.'
She fell asleep in a room with Onabowale - who she knew by another alias. When she woke up she asked him if they had sex and he replied they had. Denying she was not a willing participant, Onabowale told her:'I can get lots of girls. I don’t get girls that are not into me.'
The woman made a rape complaint to police but later withdrew it.
In December, Onabowale raped a 26-year-old nightclub waitress who was celebrating her birthday with friends.
He tricked her into going back to his empty girlfriend's flat. When they arrived she had a drink while he called a taxi for her. Onabowale then made his move, passing her a note saying 'Are you horny, yes or no?' She texted a friend with the words:'I am in trouble.'
But her drink was spiked, she blacked out and woke up the next morning in pain and with blood on the sheets.
The woman went to police after a delay
and a decision was made by the Crown Prosecution Service not to press charges. Meanwhile, Onabowale moved to the north of England to continue his evil crimes.
He enrolled on a business studies course at Hull University and carried out two rapes on students within 24 hours of each other in November last year.
Onabowale originally met his third victim at a nightclub in the city where she spurned his advances.
On the night of the rape he invited the 20-year-old to his flat to watch a DVD, smoke cannabis and drink. She told the jury she fell asleep as she played on his computer:'I began to feel hazy, as if I was not there in the room. I didn't feel strong enough to walk out to the shops or go home.'
She woke up to find him having sex with her. 'I told him to stop. I asked him "what are you doing?" I fell back to sleep I could not help it.'
She said she felt stupid and embarrassed for going to his house in the first place and sent him a text message asking him to keep it a secret.
She went to police, but within hours he had raped victim number four.
The 19-year-old was originally introduced to Onabowale at a party. He showed off a ring he was wearing and told her:'It's worth more money than you'll earn in a lifetime.' Later at another student party she collapsed after being given a vodka drink by him and he took her back to his flat.
The next morning the teenager woke up next to a naked Onabowale, with her clothes on the floor. She said to him 'what have you done to me?'
The teenager feared she had been raped and her drink spiked and went to police.
Onabowale later accepted he had sex with all four women, but claimed they were willing participants.
Although some of his victims were given cocaine or cannabis by Onabowale, Sharon Beattie, prosecuting, said the state they were in was consistent with the administration of a date rape drug. By the time tests were carried out traces of the drug could have disappeared from the system, she said.
The court
heard Onabowale arrived in the UK 10 years ago to study at a London college and was given permission to stay. He later dropped out of a computer science degree at Thames Valley University after two years.
His surgeon father and mother, who runs a restaurant back in Nigeria, were shocked when they heard about his partygoing lifestyle and fell out with their son. In 2002 he moved for a short period to Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, where he stole £2,700 from a friend using his credit card and was convicted of fraud.
The rapist may be deported on completion of his sentence.
One detective said he was a 'charming conman who preyed on innocent women.'
Detective Constable James Harris said:'He is a sex offender of the vilest sort, deliberately targeting women who rejected his advances.'
