A man in the UK is facing a lengthy prison sentence for the rape and manslaughter of a vulnerable woman he attacked on a park bench. Mohamed Iidow, 35, was captured on CCTV prowling Southall Park in West London, searching for a vulnerable target before approaching Natalie Shotter, a 37-year-old mother of three, who was passed out on a bench after a night out, the Independent reported.
The harrowing footage recorded the horrific assault, showing Iidow manipulating Natalie’s “deeply unconscious” body to repeatedly attack her for more than 15 minutes.
Natalie’s mother, Dr Cas Shotter Weetman, an NHS cardiology practitioner, has called for urgent action to address the “horrific” violence against women, emphasizing that many cannot walk freely or feel safe in public spaces.
She said: “We need to change our thoughts about how we behave. There are people out there who continue to act in a very deviant and horrendous way and think that they can get away with it.”
In a moving statement, Dr Weetman described the horrific ordeal of having to watch her daughter being raped, “No mother should ever have to see that.
“Hearing medical evidence of how you caused my daughter’s death destroyed my family. I felt such anger my daughter had gone to the park on a night out enjoying herself and was assaulted by a predator. No woman should have to fear going to a park and sitting on a bench- it is disgusting.”
Further, she also paid tribute to her daughter, saying she was a “beautiful soul” and the “kindest girl” who would help others. She said that her daughter was a “great mum” to her three children aged 5 to 19, the Mirror reported.
On Friday, Judge Richard Marks KC sentenced Iidow to life with a minimum term of 10 years and eight months, the media outlet reported.
The judge said that taking advantage of Ms Shotter when she was vulnerable and unconscious was “wicked and utterly reckless”.
The judge mentioned that even though there had never been a recorded case before of someone dying as a result of an overstimulation of the nerves at the back of the throat causing cardiac arrest, there was a ‘high risk’ that she would suffer serious harm from what he did to her.
Prosecutor Alison Morgan KC said during the trial that Ms Shotter had died of a heart attack caused by Iidow raping her “again and again”.
The CCTV footage showed Ms Shotter sitting on a bench with a different man when Iidow walked past and looked at them.
“What was the defendant doing there, what was he seeking to do, walking up and down the paths in the middle of the night and thinking about what his objectives must have been – seeking out a vulnerable woman to rape,” Ms Morgan said.
The convict then left the park and drove away in his car before he returned.
The victim was lying down, showing “no clear movement” for around half an hour before he approached her “nonchalantly”, Ms Morgan said.
During the attack, Ms Shotter was “deeply unconscious,” the prosecutor said.
The CCTV further showed the convict moving Ms Shotter’s body around in different positions as he raped her.
Ms Shotter was discovered dead in the park by a passerby early on the morning of July 17, 2021.
DNA swabs taken from her mouth matched samples collected from Mohamed Iidow.
Iidow was arrested at his home on August 4, 2021, and during his police interview, he claimed that the sexual activity had been consensual.
Ms Morgan told jurors, “The prosecution’s case is that Natalie died as a result of what was done to her by this defendant.
“She was not dead at the time when the defendant was orally raping her, it will be a matter for you to consider – that this defendant went to the park for a reason.
“He would not have sought to have sex with a dead body for over 15 minutes, he was having sex with someone he knew was alive but was deeply unconscious and therefore he was raping her.”
