Hello, youre watching afternoon live im simon mccoy. Today at 2pm. Jailed for a minimum of 30 years the most prolific rapist in british history Reynhard Sinaga is described in court as an evil sexual predator and a monster. He preyed on young men as he prowled manchesters city centre before drugging them Police Believe there are many more victims whove yet to come forward. We believe theres over 190 victims that have been involved with sinaga, with Reynhard Sinaga, and 70 of them are still to be identified. Vast crowds gather in tehran to mourn the iranian general, killed by us forces britain urges restraint as both sides issue fresh threats against each other. Paradise lost a special report from the australian town of eden, where families are fleeing from the bushfires. Harvey weinstein in the dock the trial of the disgraced producer gets underway in new york. Coming up on afternoon live, all the sport. Good afternoon. England are in a dominant position in the second test against south africa, who are chasing a world record target to win in cape town, and they have just lost their first wicket. They are 711. The lost their first wicket. They are 71 1. The updates next. Lost their first wicket. They are 711. The updates next. Looking at the weather for us, tomas. It is going to be quite a ride across the northern half of the uk, gale force winds, heavy rain but also exceedingly mild. I will talk about just how mild it gets in half an hour. See you then. Also coming up. It is really heavy, and cool. Its a golden night for british stars in hollywood, as they scoop a host of awards in the first major event
of the awards season. Hello everyone this is afternoon live im simon mccoy. The most prolific rapist in british criminal history has been jailed for life and sentenced to a minimum of 30 years in prison, after being convicted of offences against 48 men. Reynhard sinaga was convicted of over 130 rapes of male victims in manchester. Police have linked sinaga to as a many as 190 potential victims. Danny savage is at Manchester Crown court. He can bring us more particularly on what thejudge had he can bring us more particularly on what the judge had to say. Yes, sinaga was convicted after four trials. There were so many victims they could not all be heard within one trial, so this process started backin one trial, so this process started back in 2018. It finished just
before christmas, with him being convicted again by a fourth jury for the offences he committed. Today he was sentenced and thejudge suzanne gothard qc said to him, you are an evil sexual predator who preyed upon young men who came into the city centre wanting nothing more than a good night out with their friends. Thejudge added that good night out with their friends. The judge added that one victim had described sinaga as a monster, telling him of the scale and enormity of your offending establishes this was an accurate description. The true scale of your offending may never be known, and she also said she doesnt think he will ever be safe to be released. He has to serve a minimum of 30 years, so has to serve a minimum of 30 years, so it will be at least 66 years old before he will be considered for release but the judge before he will be considered for release but thejudge indicating that may not happen then. My colleaguejudith moritz has the background to this case. This is Reynhard Sinaga, as he wanted the world to see him. His social media account is full of grinning photos of a student having fun. But sinaga has many faces,
and behind the mask lies the truth. A depraved monster, said by prosecutors to be the worlds worst rapist. The total number of offences that we have prosecuted is almost 160, over 48 victims, as far as the judicial process, probably anywhere in the world is concerned, hes the most prolific rapist that has come through the courts. In the world . I would say in the world, certainly in the british courts. Night after night, sinaga would leave his manchester flat to go and find victims. He took advantage of living in the city centre, amongst the nightclubs and bars, and he made the streets outside them his hunting ground. Sinaga would often wait for drunk men to come stumbling out of this nightclub, and then entice them around the corner to his flat, which was just next door. He would offer them somewhere to have a drink or phone a taxi and, on one occasion, it took him just 60
seconds to pick up a victim. More than 100 men made this journey, disappearing inside sinagas apartment block. Then, they would be offered spiked drinks and that was the last they would remember. Unconscious, the men were raped on this grubby mattress on the floor. When they woke up, they had no memory of what had happened. Sinaga would text his friends, boasting of sexual conquests. They thought he was joking when he quoted song lyrics about using a secret potion, of which one drop should be enough. But in fact, the drug wore off early on one man, who woke up whilst being raped. He fought back and when the police were called, they seized sinagas phone. They could not believe what they saw on it. The rapist had filmed each of his attacks. They found hundreds of hours of video. This is an absolutely unprecedented case. Looking at that amount of evidence
is challenging in itself. That is equivalent to 1,500 dvd films. We believe there is over 190 victims, that have been involved with sinaga, with Reynhard Sinaga, and 70 of them are still to be identified, approximately. The men who were traced were given support at this centre in manchester. Helped to cope with the trauma of being told they were the victims of rapes they could not remember. Some men found it very difficult to process, some men have been unable to function within a family setting and have had to leave home. Some men have suffered with their mental health, to the point where some men have been suicidal. How is it possible that someone could be assaulted like this and not know . You may have had alcohol, you may have had a drug, and you may have been sexually assaulted, but there may not have been any physical injuries to see. And if you havent got any physical injuries, then you may not even suspect
you have been sexually assaulted. Reynhard sinaga prowled the streets for years before he was caught. His victims have said they hope he rots in hell and never leaves prison. He has never explained his crimes. The rapist considered a mystery, as well as a monster. Danny, a lot of people raising questions about why it took so long for him to get arrested. Yeah, well, basically he came across as the Good Samaritan to all of his victims. He was trawling the streets for them but he would sort of take advantage of intoxicated young men who might have run out of charge of their phone or who needed a drink or to call for a taxi, he would get them back to his flat and he would drug them, but he would drag them so effectively that they wouldnt recall the attack and they would wa ke recall the attack and they would wake up having experience nothing really, not knowing what had happened to them. Some of them
literally shook his hand afterwards and said thanks for looking after me and said thanks for looking after me and left, and knew nothing about the attack until the police came banging on their doors months later, because they found Video Evidence of those attacks taking place. And it was only because one of his victims, that 18 year old, woke up midway through being attacked, and fought him off, grabbed his iphone and ran away to the police and reported him that it all came pouring out. So for two and a half years he was preying on men in manchester who were oblivious to what was happening to them, and they might have been a few in there that knew what had happened but were too ashamed to reported, but were too ashamed to reported, but basically most ofjust didnt know. And then we have a trial process that didnt begin until 2018. There were four trials in all, because there were 48 victims he was accused of attacking and they couldnt be heard in one trial, so thatis couldnt be heard in one trial, so that is all taken a long time, so it was only today this could be reported because it was sentencing with him being given a minimum sentence of 30 years. It could have gone on for much longer have that
young men not woken up mid attack and done something about it and reported it to police, that young man. That is why police are worried there are many more men, going back longer than 2015 to 2017 that these trials focused on, who he may have attacked because this man has been in the country, he was a student from indonesia, he has been in the country since 2007 and there are concerns you may have attacked other people in other parts of the uk where he was living, people who have not yet come forward or again who are oblivious to what has happened to them and they will be encouraged if they have any inkling, any suspicion, to contact their local police because Police Believe they can link this man to 190 men, although they have only prosecuted him over 48, so there are more people out there potentially. Thank you, danny savage. At an earlier sentencing, the judge said she was sure that sinaga had used a form of date rape drug, such as ghb. Under the misuse of drugs acts, ghb is identified as a class c drug. It carries a sentence of two years in prison,
oran unlimited fine, and if taken, it can reduce peoples inhibitions. In response to the sentencing, the home secretary priti patel has said. Joining me now is patrick strudwick, lgbt editor of buzzfeed news. Patrick led a Major Investigation for channel 4s dispatches on the epidemic of Sexual Violence, drugging, and deaths caused by ghb drugs. And just to pick up on that point, patrick, that priti patel makes, there is a loophole in the law that means, well, those who want to use these types of drugs can access them almost in industrial quantities. Nel yes, thats right im afraid, simon. What we have is a situation where i think many people would see it as the worst of all worlds. What we
haveit the worst of all worlds. What we have it as two separate drugs which are almost identical. You have ghb, which is prohibited to buy and sell in all circumstances but we also have gbl, which is the precursor, which means that when you take it, it becomes ghb in the body. Now that is also an industrial cleaner. And for those purposes, it is legal to buy and sell. This loophole that you refer to is being exploited on a huge scale, and it means that a whole range of bad actors can sell gbl in large quantities through dating apps, through the internet, and even on facebook, as we have found, and people can buy it in large quantities. And the damage that can cause is what we are seeing
played out today. Ifind it astonishing that priti patel only now is coming round to the reality of what this drug and the government public response to it. I say i am astonished, because only a few months ago, i come as part of my investigation with channel 4 news, with dispatches and buzzfeed news, approach the government asking them to ta ke approach the government asking them to take part in my documentary, and not a single government minister was prepared to speak. Now they have decided they need to do something. Looking at classification is one of the elements that needs to be looked at absolutely, but there is a whole range of other things the government, the police and other agencies need to do as a matter of urgency. Some would say emergency, to deal with the scale of this epidemic. We found in our survey,
the largest ever survey of gay and bisexual men who take g, we are talking a survey sample of around 2700 men, that over a quarter, 28 have been subjected to rape or Sexual Assault whilst under the influence of ghb. It is an enormous number, an enormous proportion, and it needs to be acted on. People need help coming forward, and i would also add the police have got to make clear that when someone comes forward , clear that when someone comes forward, having been raped or sexually assaulted on ghb or gbl that they themselves come victim, will not ever be investigated for drugs offences. 0ne will not ever be investigated for drugs offences. One of the problems with the Current System is that people are reluctant to come forward , people are reluctant to come forward, because sometimes they have consented to taking the drug but not sex, so if they are raped they will
not go to the police for fear of being prosecuted themselves. When you use the term g, youre talking about both gbh and gbl in effect. Although they are identical, they are different. Yes. This was a recreational drug of the 90s which we are now seeing recreational drug of the 90s which we are now seeing being used in a far more sinister way, in rapes and in some murder cases as well and yet it is still a class sea drug. So what needs to happen . Well, certainly there needs to be a thorough review of the evidence. The evidence has emerged gradually over the course of 20 years. The work i have been doing over the last three yea rs, have been doing over the last three years, and in particular in the last year, has identified an escalation, an escalation both in terms of the sheer amount of usage, but also the weaponisation of this drug. And also the addiction to the stroke. There
needs to be a Public Information campaign. The government has to act on that now. Because most members of the public know nothing about it. Most people dont know how to protect themselves, they dont know what to do if they do become addicted. If you go cold turkey, the act of withdrawing from it without medical supervision can itself be lethal. So there is a whole range of things the government needs to do and to act upon to prevent this drug being weaponised further. Patrick, really good to talk to you and thank you much for your time. And details of organisations offering information and support with Sexual Violence are available at bbc. Co. Uk actionline, or you can call free at any time to hear recorded information on 0800 077 077. Vast crowds have gathered in tehran for the funeral of Qasem Soleimani, the iranian general killed by us forces during an air strike in iraq on friday. His successor has promised vengance for the killing. President trump has repeated his threat to attack iranian cultural sites, if iran does retaliate. In the past few hours borisjohnson has spoken to his iraqi counterpart with the two leaders agreeing to Work Together to find a diplomatic way forward in the region. 0ur Diplomatic CorrespondentJames Landale reports chanting. If you want an idea of how Qasem Soleimani was seen in iran, just look at this. Hundreds of thousands thronging the streets of tehran today, to mourn his death. The iranian general may have been seen as a brutal military commander in the west, but here, soleimani was seen as a national hero. And now, a martyr, after his assassination by the us. The general was often
described as the second most important man in iran. This morning, the most powerful, the Supreme LeaderAyatollah Khamenei, said prayers over his coffin and wept at the loss of the man who controlled irans network of allies and proxy forces across the middle east. The crowds called for vengeance, and the man who has replaced soleimani as head of the elite revolutionary guards Quds Force Esmail Ghaani promised iran would remove us forces from the region. God has promised to avenge soleimanis assassination, he said, there will definitely be some actions. In an address broadcast on satellite television, soleimanis daughter warned President Trump that her fathers death would have consequences. America and zionism, she said, should know that my fathers martyrdom has led to a greater
awakening of the peoples consciousness and the resistance front and will bring about dark days for them. 0vernight, President Trump return to washington from florida, promising a major retaliation if iran attacked us forces in response to the killing of soleimani. And again, he threatened to strike iranian cultural sites, something that critics insist would be against international law. So far, irans most significant action has to been to weaken even further its deal to restrict its nuclear capability, saying it will no longer accept any limit on its ability to enrich uranium. But us and allied forces in the region have been put on standby for military retaliation that could potentially include attacks on tankers in the gulf. Amid growing fears of violent miscalculation. Both sides are fundamentally underestimating the strength and resolve on the other side. The iranians have thought for some time that america just wants to get out of the middle east and is not really committed long term to the region and they can get away with their proxy wars. But the americans too have been predicting for a long time that iran will come to its knees because of economic pressure, and the regime has held out. That is the real danger we face at the moment. Today, the Prime Minister is meeting senior ministers and advisers in downing street to discuss the uks response. In a joint statement with his french and german counterparts, mrjohnson said there was an urgent need for de escalation and called on all parties to exercise utmost restraint. Live to the iranians capital, because those scenes, it is quarter to six in the evening in tehran, quarter past six, there are as you can still see thousands of people on the streets for the funeral of the iranians military commander Qasem Soleimani, and erans Supreme Leaderayatolla h soleimani, and erans Supreme Leader ayatollah leading prayers, and seem to be weeping in that report. Live to washington and our correspondent gary 0donoghue. We hear from we hearfrom former we hear from former foreign secretaryjeremy we hear from former foreign secretary jeremy hunt saying we hear from former foreign secretaryjeremy hunt saying that the concern is for unforeseen consequences but presumably that is something donald trump and his team would have discussed . |j something donald trump and his team would have discussed . I am sure they did. The thing about unfores