Migrant who sexually assaulted eight women in ten days within months of arriving in UK faces years behind bars
Mehdi Midani convicted of six counts of sexual assault and one of common assault after sex attack spree in which he followed women home from work and groped them
AN ALGERIAN migrant who targeted eight women in sex attacks over ten days in London faces years in jail today.
Mehdi Midani, 28, groped and slapped the buttocks of four women returning from work in just four hours while roaming across Clapham and Brixton Hill in South London.
Later in his sickening spree he climbed on top of a victim, grabbing her and trying to kiss her.
He was convicted of six counts of sexual assault and one of common assault, as well as pleading guilty to another sexual assault charge at Inner London Crown Court.
The Algerian national, who is believed to have entered the UK via Ireland a few months before the attacks, will be sentenced on May 26.
The court heard how he followed a woman returning from work at 9pm on October 22, touching her bottom as she made her way up Trent Road in Brixton Hill.
Prosecutor Charlotte Chirico previously told the court: 'He brushed his hand against the victim's backside and reached up her dress.
"At this point the victim shouted 'what the f***. I don't know you' and then the defendant has left the area.'"
At around 7pm on October 26, he waited for a woman to open her door in Arodene Road, Clapham, before putting his hand between her legs, beginning a spree of two attacks in two hours.
Midani ran away when the victim screamed, but he committed an even more sinister attack just an hour later, on a 26-year-old woman walking along Rosebury Road.
Miss Chirico said: "This incident is slightly more brutal than the other two as she's grabbed aggressively in the vagina area with both hands then dragged to the floor.
"Then the defendant tried to kiss her and climbed on top of her and grabbed her."
DNA evidence gathered from the victim's cheek was used to help convict the attacker.
In four hours on October 28 Midani attacked a further four women, all between 28 and 32, groping them and grabbing them in the street or as they entered their homes.
One such attack, in which Midani grabbed a woman near her home in Doverfield Road, resulted in the common assault conviction.
Three days later he attacked a woman in Edithna Street, Brixton, but fled when she screamed for help.
Miss Chirico said: "He approached another lone female and slapped her many times on her buttocks."
Investigating officer Detective Constable Tony Carr, from the Met's Serious and Complex Case Team, part of the Sexual Offences, Exploitation and Child Abuse Command, said: "Midani caused enormous fear and distress to the local community as he carried out his spate of attacks, with four recorded in just one day.
"A public appeal was crucial to our investigation and led to information being provided that quickly led to Midani's arrest.
"I would like to thank the local community for their support and help during our inquiry and hope they are reassured by the news that Midani has now been convicted and faces imprisonment."
Midani will be sentenced on 26 May.