A rapist attacked woman 7 days after arriving in UK

Romanian national Mihai Roban, 47, had been in the country for a few days when he assaulted the woman as she was walked home in Finchley, north London.

He was given a five-year sentence in 1996 for rape and had convictions for other offences in his home country.

Roban, who admitted to the London rape at an earlier hearing, was jailed for seven years and eight months.

Roban, of no fixed address, was also ordered to sign the sex offenders register for life.

The Home Office described the rape as “an appalling case”.

Harrow Crown Court head the victim had been walking home along Regents Park Road in the early hours of 20 January when she was approached by the defendant and attacked behind a public toilet.

A member of the public heard the 28-year-old’s cries for help and called police, who found Roban with the victim and arrested him.

Det Sgt Michael Daly, of the Met Police, said Roban had “maintained his innocence until the week before the trial was due to start which brought further anguish to his victim”.

“Roban had only been in the country for a week when he carried out this attack,” he said.

“The victim has been incredibly strong throughout the investigation and I hope that knowing Roban will be in prison for some time will help her to move on from her horrible ordeal.”

Police sources said there was no record of any background or criminal record checks being conducted when Roban entered the country.

No alerts were issued to the authorities either, according to BBC home affairs correspondent Danny Shaw.

A Home Office spokeswoman said “tougher rules on criminality” will apply to European citizens from 1 January.

She added: “We are determined to remove those who come to the UK to break our laws and abuse our hospitality, and since 2010 we have removed over 55,000 foreign national offenders.

“Anyone who receives a custodial sentence of over 12 months will be considered for deportation.”