16 December 2023 , 07:56
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A suspected serial rapist who enjoyed years of freedom after first being arrested has been filmed boasting about having sex with 4,000 men.
Mohammed Altaher, 38, was accused of violently attacking two victims when he was released after the Crown Prosecution Service originally decided not to charge him. The "arrogant, narcissistic and self-obsessed" rapist targeted his victims through the dating app Grindr.
Altaher, from Bedford, was finally jailed for 10 years in September, nearly four years after first being arrested. The AI specialist, who was born in Iraq, had been released under police investigation since attacking the men, who did not know each other, at his home in August and September 2019.
Mohammed Altaher was jailed in September and has now been released under investigationAt least two more victims came forward to a sexual health clinic to say they were also raped by the academic and detectives are now appealing for new victims to come forward. A new episode of the Channel 4 series 24 Hours in Police Custody, called The Predator, reveals the difficulties faced by detectives investigating rape.
Speaking two weeks after he is released under investigation with no bail conditions, Altaher tells the programme he has already had sex with ten men. He boasts: "The guys I meet are beautiful. It's an addiction but it doesn't mean you rape people. Any guy I like, I can get."
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The first victim, named only as Andy, tells the programme: "I do wonder why somebody could do this to somebody and then be set free. It's very difficult to know that this has happened to me and that they have been released from custody. The fact that he is still around and could potentially do this to someone else does frighten me."
Altaher grinning during a police interviewThe second man to come forward, named only as Jamie, said: "I never met anyone like that before who wanted to do something so horrible. There was a long time when I was having nightmares of it happening again. I definitely think I'm getting stronger but it just takes time and lots of help as well."
Det Insp Clare Gilbert, of Bedfordshire Police's Rape and Serious Sexual Offences Unit, said: "This crime is one down from murder. The game that we are in is getting to the truth of the allegation. Consent is very difficult to prove, we have to get into the mindset of the perpetrator. Why did they think that the victim was consenting?"
Altaher reads the Quran in his cellShe adds: "In my 23 years I think rape is the most difficult of the offences to try and prosecute. I feel frustration that a decision is made perhaps too early that a case won't progress. We don't feel that bail is appropriate because the offence is so serious. There is a risk to the public."
Altaher was found guilty of two counts of rape and one of sexual assault by penetration at St Albans Crown Court. Prosecutor Nigel Ogborne said both victims had withdrawn consent but Altaher "carried on regardless", raping them in an "aggressive manner".
One victim was given the drug MCAT before being subjected to sexual aggression, including rape. He said the experience left him behaving "like a zombie."
He was described as an 'arrogant, narcissistic and self-obsessed' rapistJailing him, Recorder Andrew Johnson said he was an intelligent man and was very keen for the jury to know he had a Doctorate. He went on: "You are also, however, an arrogant man - or to use the language of the probation officer, from which I do not dissent, 'quite a narcissistic individual and very self-obsessed'."
Det Const Kevin Cheese said: "We will always be on the side of victims, regardless of gender, background or sexual orientation, and we will relentlessly pursue perpetrators of such crimes. It is never too late to come forward and report something that has happened to you."
If you have been a victim, you can call 101 or report online. 24 Hours In Police Custody - Sunday 9pm.