A Chinese PhD student who drugged and raped 10 women and is feared to have abused 60 more was today jailed for life with a minimum term of 24 years.
Zhenhao Zou, who is now considered one of Britain’s most prolific sex offenders, filmed his victims helpless and stupefied in sick home videos that he kept of his attacks.
The 28-year-old son of a wealthy Chinese Communist Party member, drugged and raped three women in London and seven in China between 2019 and 2023, while he was studying at University College London.
Twenty four woman have come forward since the conclusion of his trial in March but detectives fear there are 60 more victims in China yet to be traced.
Zou has offered to be chemically castrated in the hope of receiving a lighter sentence and never to have sex again, Inner London crown court heard.
He had offered to sell the drugs he used to other sex attackers and he gave them tips on how to carry out similar attacks.
In chat groups he offered advice on the type and quantity of drugs to use to render rape victims unconscious.
Zou admitted he likes ‘girls to be still and quiet’ during sex but claimed they all consented and denied ever drugging or forcing himself on them.
He denied but was convicted of eleven charges of rape on ten victims, ten of possession of an extreme pornographic images, three counts of voyeurism, one of false imprisonment and three counts of possession of a controlled drug with intent to commit a sexual offence, namely Butanediol.
He was cleared of two counts of possession of extreme pornographic images and four charges of possession of a drug in order to commit a sexual offence, namely MDMA and Ketamine.
Bespectacled Zou, smartly dressed in a navy suit and tie, appeared in the dock at Inner London Crown to be sentenced for 28 separate offences.
Aided by a Mandarin interpreter, he appeared emotionless and was seen glancing towards both the press area and five jurors who had returned to court for the hearing.
Judge Rosina Cottage is due sentence the serial predator this afternoon.
Prosecutor Corinne Bramwell read three victim impact statements on behalf of three woman drugged and raped by Zou.
The first woman wrote: ‘That night I awoke as if the world had vanished from my life for hours.
‘Everything in this world: my memories, time, even my own body – no longer felt like mine.
‘My memories of that night were fragmented,’ she continued. ‘I only recall wondering like a trapped animal desperately searching for an exit.
‘The humiliation of being stripped of my dignity and treated as nothing more than an object for his gratification haunts me to this day.’
Zou appeared unmoved as the woman’s statement was relayed to him by a translator.
Her final sentence read: ‘What happened that night is etched into my soul forever – his face, his expression: it will never leave me, I will never forgive him.’
Another of his victims, linked to counts of rape, false imprisonment, voyeurism and possession of extreme pornographic images, wrote that she was ‘not aware a human could do such evil things.
‘To this day he insists it was consensual sex which is crazy to me, he has shown no remorse for what he has done.
‘I know his family is very powerful in China and he may blame me for ruining what was potentially a very prosperous future.
‘I know what he is capable of; I fear if he is released he will commit the same crime again.
‘The only thing I want him to know is that if he does this again I will do everything in my power to send him back to prison.’
The final victim impact statement concerned ‘Female D’, footage of whom was played to the jury during Zou’s trial.
She said: ‘Reliving this feels like being forced to watch my past self endure repeated violations, powerless to intervene.
‘Merely describing the trauma drags me back to that night trapped in the nightmare all over again.’
The prosecutor then relayed excerpts from a pre-sentence report conducted over a ‘number of sessions of an hour or two hours in length’ with Zou.
‘It sets out that when it comes to consent the defendant indicated that woman will pretend to refuse or show half-willing but when it comes to sexual intercourse they do in fact give their full consent.
‘The report sets out that Mr Zou displays views of victim-blaming, that the offending displayed a high degree of premeditated planning and he showed a complete disregard to others’ authority.
‘Zou committed the offences for his own uncontrollable sexual gratification, that the offending was calculated and predatory in nature.
‘The report author says that Mr Zou has a preoccupation with sex and showed a very minimal insight into his offending, but he made reference to never having sex again and accepting any form of punishment including chemical castration.
‘The report author makes the observation that this came from the belief that he would get a lighter sentence and was concerned with the effect on him rather than any harm caused to his victims.
‘He assessed Mr Zou as posing a high risk of serious harm to the public, particularly lone, vulnerable females and I currently assess that the risk is imminent.’
Mark Cotter KC, defending Zou, said: ‘Personal mitigation is of course of limited weight in a situation such as this.
‘He is 28 year -of age, was of good character and has a heart condition which is being treated in custody.’
He referenced ‘partial admissions contained within the pre-sentence report’ but conceded that ‘the road to rehabilitation in relation to Mr Zou may be a long one.’
Zou was described as ‘highly intelligent’ and ‘potentially better placed than some to take on board the work done on him and reflect on work done on him.’
Mr Cotter also pointed out that he was a ‘long way from home’ in custody which includes a familial separation ‘that goes way beyond the geographical situation.’
He told how Zou ‘has the support of his family’ who ‘continue to stand by him’.
‘We simply say that in this very, very, very serious case that there is material that invites the court to conclude he will not be dangerous indefinitely and that he is a young man who has the intellect and capacity to change’, Mr Cotter told the court.
Judge Rosina Cottage earlier described Zou as a ‘dangerous and predatory sexual offender.’
At the start of one recording, Zou can be seen placing a camera on the bed as an unconscious woman is lying naked.
Zou moves her into position to have sex as the woman says ‘I don’t want’ and then repeatedly shouts ‘no’ in Mandarin as he continues the assault.
She becomes upset and begins to cry as Zou continues to have sex with her.
Jurors were shown nine further videos showing Zou having sex with nine women – two in London and seven in unknown locations in China.
Another woman on the clip appears to have bruising to her eye, cheek bone and above the eye brow.
There were also several other photos taken that show Zou having sex with her.
The jury were shown two more videos that did not involve Zou but were found on one of his devices.
They showed two unknown females, who again appeared unconscious, being penetrated by unknown men.
The first recording showed an unconscious woman being slapped in the face while the man having sex with her holds a small bottle to the camera.
The second recording shows a woman naked and wearing an eye mask, barring one noise, she appears to be unaware of what is happening throughout and an unknown male has sex with her.
These films were made by associates of Zou’s who offered eachother tips and advice in what may be a huge ring of drug rapists.
Zou’s own crimes came light in May 2023 when one of the women, a Chinese national, made an allegation of rape to police.
She gave evidence against Zou behind a thick scarlet curtain and told jurors how she went to Zou’s 39th floor flat for drinks on 18 May 2019.
Zou refused to let her leave and dragged her into his bedroom.
She was plied with vodka before Zou raped her while she was unconscious.
The woman described the traumatic experience in a post on WeChat she titled: ‘A pervert and a dirty old man.’
She described ‘the tricks he used, continually giving you alcohol. After that when you were unconscious, doing something bad to you.’
‘The main thing is I was too stupid and too trusting,’ she said in her post.
‘Why did I not say that I wanted to go to the lounge and sleep there, I might have said that but I had drunk too much.
‘I asked him for 90,000 (RMB) when I got home. He said it was not okay and he could give me gifts. I sent him a bag, and then a few days later he said that was not okay.’
She ended her post by warning other women: ‘To every girl, when this happens to you, call the police.’
‘I do not care about the money. I did not want to escalate this matter but I felt he did not want to offer the minimum compensation.
‘After the incident I did not control my emotions very well. I was very excited and I did not judge the situation very well. I thought it would make me feel good if I got a gift from him.’
She told police: ‘I was drunk, I was really tired, I can’t fight back, I have no strength.’
The woman then told how Zou ‘raped me when I was unconscious.’
Another woman contacted her after seeing the post and gave her permission for her contact details to be given to police.
Police raided Zou’s flat in the Elephant Castle and found a variety of date rape drugs including Ketamine, Xanax, MDMA, and multiple 500ml bottles of Butanediol.
Videos of women being attacked were recovered from two cameras in the 39th floor flat.
There was also a pack of Viagra pills inside a Louis Vuitton bag in his bedroom.
Several images of women lying unconscious near bottles with the ‘effect guaranteed’ caption written on them were also shown to jurors from chats on Zou’s phone.
There were also screenshots of conversations involve several men also interested in stupefying and assaulting women which Zou had encrypted in the Potato app.
One person wrote: ‘Fell asleep shortly after taking it, fell deep asleep, first just said ‘being tired’, shortly afterwards fell directly asleep, falling asleep until 9am this morning.’
Another replied: ‘Yes, yes, this is how it is – hi dear, how much have you used?’
The person said: ‘I mixed it with a big quantity of drinks, so used about 7ml’ to which the second party responded, ‘you’ve used a bit too much, 5ml is more than enough dear.’
On Zou’s phone was also a Q&A about drugging terminology.
One question about the difference between ‘wild fuel’ and ‘proscribed fuel’, was answered: ‘Wild fuel refers to drugs produced by an unofficial manufacturer or small manufacturers.
‘Such drugs do not have clearly identified ingredients and often have serious side effects.’
The Q&A also explained the term ‘three piece kit’ as the ‘currently most used three drugs’ for drugging victims.
The screenshot stated: ‘The three piece kit is well-proven by previous users’ and that the ‘ease of use in alternatives are not good enough when compared with the kit.’
The process of drugging was described in the screenshot as a ‘sick hobby’ and users were warned: ‘Please think carefully before taking part, if caught, the consequences are serious.’
Another screenshot saved in a folder on Zou’s phone contained information about a drug called FM2, a sedative which puts victims into a deep sleep.
Prosecutor Catherine Farrelly, KC, told the court: ‘There are villains who mix it in drinks to give to young girls and drug rape them after they fell asleep and lose resistance.
‘It is known as a rape drug, does harm to physical and mental wellbeing and is addictive.’
The medicine was accompanied by the words ‘quality guaranteed – full refund if it does not work.’
It was described as a ‘colourless and odourless liquid, first choice in all sex service venues and bars.
Zou said: ‘It can be speedily mixed in any drinks such as alcohols, soda or other soft drinks such as coffee, milk or tea etc.’
Zou, originally from Guangzhou in Guangdong Province, northwest of Hong Kong, told the court his father worked for a ‘state-owned enterprise’ while his mother was a teacher.
His parents owned several properties in China but Zou did not know the ‘exact number’.
After graduating from Guangdong University Of Technology he first came to UK in 2017 to study engineering at Queen’s University in Belfast.
In 2019 he began a master’s degree at University College London before beginning a PhD there in 2021.
Some of the clips shown during the trial were filmed at Zou’s student accommodation in Woburn Place near Russell Square, from September 2019 to September 2020.
‘It may have seemed to the outside world this defendant was quite a charming man,’ said Ms Farrelly.
‘He was and is a wolf in sheep’s clothing and every women’s nightmare.
‘He is a serial rapist. He is a predator. He is a man who would use either drink or drugs to incapacitate women and take advantage of the when there was nothing they could do to protect themselves.’
Zou, of Elephant and Castle, had denied eleven charges of rape on ten alleged victims, twelve of possession of an extreme pornographic images, three counts of voyeurism, one of false imprisonment and eight counts of possession of a controlled drug with intent to commit a sexual offence.
