Jonathan Graden, 29, has confessed to a second sex attack in Spitalfields after previously being convicted of raping a young woman there last autumn.
Graden, from Hackney, pleaded guilty at Snaresbrook Crown Court on Monday, 3 June, to raping a woman in 2011. This confession followed a DNA breakthrough where police matched his DNA from his 2018 arrest related to the more recent Spitalfields rape to the earlier case.
In February 2011, Graden attacked a 24-year-old woman walking alone on Dyers Hall Road, E11. He pushed her to the ground and raped her, violently banging her head on the pavement.
On 9 November 2018, Graden struck again, following a 22-year-old victim into a building on Hanbury Street, Spitalfields. He raped her in a basement before calmly leaving the scene about 20 minutes later.
Police used CCTV footage to track Graden’s movements after the 2018 attack, revealing he took a taxi to Belvedere in south-east London. Media appeals and leafleting in the area pressured Graden to surrender himself. He was arrested on 21 December 2018 and charged the following day.
After initially pleading guilty in January, Graden remains in custody ahead of his sentencing hearing at Snaresbrook Crown Court on 19 July.
This case highlights the pattern of a serial attacker operating in London’s streets. Authorities hope the forthcoming sentence will deliver justice for the victims and improve community safety.
Originally published by UKNIP.
