Serial rapist who attacked six women and forced them to perform oral sex at knifepoint is jailed for life – but police fear there could be more victims after combing through hours of sickening footage from his laptop and phone
- Francis Mukendi, 27, was ordered to serve a minimum of 15 years’ jail by a judge
- Dubbed ‘Camden Doorstep Rapist’, he used knives and hammer to terrify victims
- Police fearing more victims say he was very ‘forensically and digitally aware’
A TikTok rapper dubbed the ‘Camden Doorstep Rapist’ who attacked six women at knifepoint after following them home at night has been jailed for life – as police launch a probe to find more victims.
Francis Mukendi, 27, surprised the women – aged between 20 and 32 – in the stairwells and hallways of their apartment buildings in Camden, north London, during a two-year spree from September 2017 to December 2019.
The predator, who filmed at least one of his assaults, was branded ‘extremely dangerous’ by investigators before Judge Andrew Holmes jailed him for life on Friday and ordered he serve a minimum of 15 years.
He was convicted of four counts of rape, three of attempted rape, two of sexual assault and four of possession of a bladed article by a jury at Wood Green Crown Court following a six-week trial.
But Metropolitan Police fear Mukendi may have attacked others after reviewing more than 100 hours of CCTV footage and finding images of other women on his phone and laptop. They have now launched an appeal for potential new victims to come forward.
The prowler rapped on Instagram under the name Raver Artist and is thought to have used a zombie blade, kitchen knife and hammer to force his terrified victims to perform sex acts on him as they approached their front doors.
Mukendi, who lived a short walk away from all the assaults, finally handed himself in to police on December 21 2020 after a CCTV image of the suspect was released to the media.
Officers say after reviewing evidence in the case that he was ‘exceptionally forensically and digitally aware’ and that they now ‘strongly believe’ there are other victims.
Police say he was able to avoid capture for years by knowing where CCTV cameras were and wearing gloves to stop his fingerprints from being traced during his attacks.
It comes after it was revealed in March how he had rapped on his YouTube channel that he was ‘stressed’ because he had not had consensual sex – after he had already attacked five women.
Francis Mukendi (pictured), 27, surprised his victims – aged between 20 and 32 – in the stairwells and hallways of their apartment buildings in Camden, north London, between September 2017 and December 2019. He was sentenced to life in prison with a minimum 15-year sentence.
The prowler, who rapped on Instagram under the name Raver Artist, is thought to have used a zombie blade (pictured following search of his home), kitchen knife and hammer to force his terrified victims to perform sex acts on him as they approached their front doors.
Mukendi, who lived a short walk away from all the assaults, finally handed himself in to police on December 21 2020 after a CCTV image of the suspect was released to the media. (Pictured: Still from CCTV footage)
Police fear ‘many more’ victims of the ‘Camden Doorstep Rapist’ as they praise bravery of the six who came forward and testified in court
Metropolitan Police fear ‘Camden Doorstep Rapist’ Francis Mukendi, 27, may have attacked many more women after reviewing more than 100 hours of CCTV footage and finding images of other potential victims on his phone and laptop.
They have now launched an appeal for others to come forward.
Officers say after reviewing evidence in the case that he was ‘exceptionally forensically and digitally aware’ and that they now ‘strongly believe’ there are other victims.
They said he was able to avoid capture for years by knowing where CCTV cameras were and wearing gloves to stop his fingerprints from being traced during his attacks.
Detective Inspector Ross Murrell said: ‘Because of the nature of the evidence found on his phone and laptop we strongly believe there are other victims who haven’t come forward.’
Andy Carter, BCU Commander for Camden and Islington, said: ‘Rape is a very complicated offence in which to investigate and in particular this set of horrific crimes have had a traumatic effect on the victims concerned.
‘He’s a very, very, very dangerous individual who was following women alone near their home address.
‘You can’t get more serious and dangerous than that.
‘I want to pay tribute to the amazing victims who through their bravery, their strength of character to see the case through and support the investigation.’
The court heard how Mukendi assaulted his first victim in September 2017.
She had entered the hallway of her block of flats and when she turned to close the door and saw a man standing in the doorway.
Summing up the case the judge said: ‘He told her to get down on her knees.
‘She said no but she did get down. She asked, why are you doing this?
‘He put a knife to her neck. She thought it had come from his back pocket. It had a long, curved blade.’
The woman described feeling terrified as she was forced to perform oral sex on the fiend as he pressed a knife to her throat.
When her flatmate came home the attacker ran away.
Police later searched Mukendi’s flat and found a MacBook under his bed. They delved into the laptop’s trash can and recovered a video clip of a woman weeping as she was being raped in a hallway.
An information systems expert for the police said the video’s metadata showed it had been recorded on September 21, 2017 at 00:33 hours.
Internet history showed it had been downloaded to the laptop on November 5, 2018.
Other data showed the video had been deleted and sent to the trash can 85 seconds after it was downloaded.
When asked about the video, Mukendi said he had first seen it in 2017 on a phone he had bought from a friend for £40 worth of drugs.
‘He did not think much of it, it was two people getting intimate,’ said Judge Holmes. ‘It was not unusual in his world to download pornography.
‘When he saw the video he had the sound turned off and didn’t realise it was a rape video. He said he didn’t know how it came to be on the laptop.
‘He said he put the video in the trashcan because it wasn’t interesting to him as he wasn’t in it.’
Judge Holmes described how another woman was targeted after coming home from a night out.
She first noticed her attacker on the stairs after she had entered her block of flats.
He asked her how she was and pleaded with her to kiss him.
‘She thought it was just harassing so she said yeah, I have to go home, I live on the 4th floor,’ said Judge Holmes.
‘He pushed her against the wall. She wanted to say hey what are you doing but he showed her a kitchen knife.
‘She wanted to cry and said please don’t hurt me. He said shut up, go on your knees…
‘She didn’t want to fight back because of the knife.’
Serial rapist who attacked women on their doorsteps later rapped on YouTube how he had not had consensual sex
Doorstep rapist Francis Mukendi, 27, rapped on YouTube that he was ‘stressed’ because he could not get consensual sex after he attacked multiple women in a terrifying two-year spree.
He used knives and a hammer to force the ambushed victims to perform sex acts on him in Camden, north London, between September 2017 and December 2019.
The rapper, who performs under the name Raver Artist, targeted the lone women as they made their way home late at night before demanding oral sex on doorsteps and in communal stairwells.
It was revealed in March how he made references to his offending in rap videos littered with misogynistic language, references to selling drugs and violence.
In an animated video uploaded to YouTube in May 2020, after the attacks had taken place, he said: ‘I’m fed up. I ain’t had so no sex so I’m stressed out.
‘I’m always on the roads giving no f***s.’
The song has just 2,148 views on the video platform.
In another video, he raps: ‘Late night in the trap house doing up hours man don’t slip.
‘Could have went and got me a couple of brainers but I’m out here tryna chase this cream.’
He also mentions possession of a ‘Rambo’ knife similar to the one used to threaten his victims.
It was posted in October 2019 – a month before his last known sex attack.
He then made her perform a sex act.
Mukendi claimed he was in Camden area dealing drugs, selling up to 60 wraps of cocaine a night.
A zombie knife and a lock knife believed to be used in the attacks were also recovered from his home address.
Jurors were shown a music video Mukendi had made under the name Raver Artist in which he is waving weapons around.
He said he only used the knives because they look cool and said he has never taken them out of the house as he is well known and respected in Islington.
In a statement he prepared before handing himself in Mukendi said: ‘I did not commit this rape. I did not see any rape and I was not aware of any rape.
‘I was not aware that any offence had been committed until I was referred to in a news article.
‘I sometimes frequent the area to see friends and I also used to see my ex-girlfriend there.’
Mukendi, of Finsbury Park Road, north London, denied but was convicted of four counts of rape, three of attempted rape, two of sexual assault and four of possession of a bladed article
He admitted possession of an extreme pornographic image in relation to the video found on his MacBook.
Detective Constable Stacey Smith, of Central North BCU said: ‘Mukendi is an extremely dangerous offender who targeted these women as they walked home alone in the dark.
‘He waited for the most opportune of moments before making his attacks. His actions have left these women traumatised by what has happened to them.
‘I would like to thank them for coming forward and supporting the police investigation; also for providing crucial evidence which led to this conviction and has ensured Mukendi cannot subject anyone else to such horrific attacks.’
Police say the reason why they suspect there are more victims is due to investigations of his personal devices found pictures and videos of other women.
Detective Sergeant Sam Wood, at Camden and Islington, said: ‘I came to work at the [Basic Command Unit] a couple of years ago and I was reviewing the unsolved rape report for closure to see if there were other lines of enquiry.
‘I came across the CCTV image that ended up being circulated in the press.
‘I felt that image, as grainy as it’s been described, was clear enough for who knew the person or who was the person to know who it was. A couple of days later Mr Mukendi handed himself into police.
‘A search of his property looking for evidence connected to that rape led to digital evidence that linked him to other unsolved rapes in Camden.’
Detective Inspector Ross Murrell said: ‘Investigation of one allegation of this nature is significant and at a large scale.
‘The reopening of five old ones is a massive investigation for us.
‘We reviewed 207 already obtained exhibits and a new investigation created a further 260.
‘Once Mr Mukendi was identified, we went through over 100 hours of CCTV and media footage found on his devices.
‘Because of the nature of the evidence found on his phone and laptop we strongly believe there are other victims who haven’t come forward.’
The rapper made references to how he was ‘stressed’ in his videos because he could not get consensual sex with women
Paying tribute to the women who came forward, DS Wood added: ‘I cannot thank them enough for doing that. As a collective hopefully that bravery publicised will help other victims to come forward.
‘Even though there was a detailed investigation, without them coming to the court, he may not have been convicted.
‘Forcing the victims to reopen past trauma shows a propensity to be quite arrogant and have no forethought for any trauma he is going to commit.
‘These women should be free to walk home at night and he has completely torn that from these women completely.
‘He has done this on their doorsteps. There are many layers of trauma that will have repercussions throughout their life.’
Andy Carter, BCU Commander for Camden and Islington, said: ‘Rape is a very complicated offence in which to investigate and in particular this set of horrific crimes have had a traumatic effect on the victims concerned.
‘He’s a very, very, very dangerous individual who was following women alone near their home address.
‘You can’t get more serious and dangerous than that.
‘I want to pay tribute to the amazing victims who through their bravery, their strength of character to see the case through and support the investigation.’
Anyone who has been a victim of a similar attack is urged to speak to police directly quoting CAD1639/21MAR22.
They can also contact them through a third party support group such as The Havens or London Survivors Gateway who offer a 24/7 urgent advice number.
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