Barrister who sent down Britain’s most prolific rapist wants to raise awareness of male rape

The lead prosecutor in the case against Britain’s most prolific rapist hopes his horrific crimes will raise awareness of rape against men. 

Serial rapist Reynhard Sinaga is believed to have attacked at least 195 men and was convicted of drugging 48 of them before filming himself sexually abusing them while they were unconscious.  

Iain Simkin, of Deans Court Chambers in Manchester, appeared in BBC Two documentary, Catching A Predator, which detailed the investigation into Sinaga’s crimes. 

The Crown Prosecution Service barrister described the rapist as ‘savage’ and said the videos he shot of himself abusing his victims – one of which took place over the course of 14 hours – were ‘worse than a Gothic horror story’. 

Serial rapist Reynhard Sinaga is believed to have attacked at least 195 men and was convicted of drugging 48 of them before filming himself sexually abusing them while they were unconscious

Crown Prosecution Service barrister Iain Simkin, of Deans Court Chambers in Manchester, appeared in BBC Two documentary Catching A Predator, which will detail the investigation into Sinaga's crimes

Crown Prosecution Service barrister Iain Simkin, of Deans Court Chambers in Manchester, appeared in BBC Two documentary Catching A Predator, which will detail the investigation into Sinaga’s crimes

‘I hope it’s raised awareness that men get raped’, he said. ‘Men get raped. I’ve got four sons and when they go to university I now know I will be more worried than I was beforehand. 

‘My friends who have daughters are always worried that something will happen to your daughters, you don’t think about it for your sons. But I do, now.’ 

Simkin also said he does ‘far fewer’ rape cases after the Sinaga case – calling them a graphic representation of the worst parts of human nature’. 

Sinaga, then 36, was an Indonesian student living in Manchester, who would roam the street late at night and lure men to his apartment – before drugging them so they became unconscious and sexually assaulting them. 

The investigation into Sinaga began when one of his victims regained consciousness on the bathroom floor and fought off the rapist before reporting the incident to the police. The rapist is pictured after being battered by one of his victims

The investigation into Sinaga began when one of his victims regained consciousness on the bathroom floor and fought off the rapist before reporting the incident to the police. The rapist is pictured after being battered by one of his victims 

The investigation into Sinaga began in 2017 when one of his victims regained consciousness on the bathroom floor and fought off the rapist before reporting the incident to the police. 

The six-foot tall, 13-stone teenager told how he woke up with his trousers around his ankles with the attacker molesting him. He battered the rapist, beating him so badly he suffered a bleed on the brain and had to be taken to Manchester Royal Infirmary. 

Initially the 18-year-old victim was arrested for assault, but eventually it was discovered that Sinaga had left an iPhone 4 in his flat, which contained sickening videos of him raping drugged men. 

Di Matt Gregory was the first detective at the scene, and recalled Sinaga describing himself as a ‘terrible person’ after being arrested for rape.  

Officers searching Sinaga’s flat found cameras, memory cards, mobile phones, laptops and hard drives containing a chilling online library of videos. 

Later it would be discovered the rapist kept three terabytes of data on his devices, with one terabyte equating to 250,000 photographs and 250 DVDs. 

Officers searching Sinaga's flat (pictured) found cameras, memory cards, mobile phones, laptops and hard drives containing a chilling online library of videos

Officers searching Sinaga’s flat (pictured) found cameras, memory cards, mobile phones, laptops and hard drives containing a chilling online library of videos

Sinaga, then 36, was an Indonesian student living in Manchester, who would roam the street late at night and lure men to his apartment (pictured) - before drugging them so they became unconscious and sexually assaulting them

Sinaga, then 36, was an Indonesian student living in Manchester, who would roam the street late at night and lure men to his apartment (pictured) – before drugging them so they became unconscious and sexually assaulting them

They also found Sinaga had looked victims up on Facebook and stored their details and photographs as ‘trophies’ along with other sick souvenirs such as a phone, watch and driving licence.  

DS Natalie McDonald had already seen a video of Sinaga raping one of his victim’s before his first police interview, and knew was lying as he denied guilt.     

‘I came out of the interview thinking he wanted people to feel sorry for him’, she said.  

‘He was lying and his tears towards the end, I don’t think it’s because of what he saw in front of him. I think it was just another tac tic to try and make out he was the victim that people didn’t believe. 

‘Unless you’ve met Reynhard Sinaga you won’t realise the level of manipulation he has’. 

DS Natalie McDonald (pictured) had already seen a video of Sinaga raping one of his victim's before his first police interview, and knew was lying as he denied guilt

DS Natalie McDonald (pictured) had already seen a video of Sinaga raping one of his victim’s before his first police interview, and knew was lying as he denied guilt

DS Kimberley Hames-Evans (pictured) was investigating an eight week old investigation into a similar 2017  incident

DS Kimberley Hames-Evans (pictured) was investigating an eight week old investigation into a similar 2017  incident 

She said coming out of his first police it was clear the case was ‘going to grow’ and police quickly linked the crime to an eight week old investigation into a similar incident.  

DS Kimberley Hames-Evans explained: ‘The lad that had reported it had a really confused account of what he thought had happened. 

‘He was out with friends in a bar watching a band, he then woke up in a place he was unfamiliar with but couldn’t give any detail about how he got from one place to the other and was getting these confused flashbacks of being analy penetrated’. 

After forensic examination of the victim’s clothes, it was confirmed that Sinaga was behind the second rape, and by day four of the investigation there were already 16 confirmed victims.  

‘The contents of the phone was horrendous, said DS Kimberley. ‘There were videos upon videos of young men being sexually abused and raped. 

DC Dorothy Orr (pictured) recalled the horrific job of informing men they'd found on Sinaga's devices that they were victims of rape or sexual assault

DC Dorothy Orr (pictured) recalled the horrific job of informing men they’d found on Sinaga’s devices that they were victims of rape or sexual assault

‘Working in the sexual offence unit you get lots of reports of rape but seldom see one in front of your own eyes’.  

It was discovered that Sinaga even took selfies with his victims – the majority of whom were straight – while they lay unconscious in his bed.   

DC Dorothy Orr recalled the horrific job of informing men they’d found on Sinaga’s devices that they were victims of rape or sexual assault. 

‘It was at the point of saying his name they would say “I remember this man who was really nice to me, looked after me, I was drunk he took me in”

‘And you sit there, and you’re going to tell them what someone has done to them. Someone has raped them. Chances are their life is not going to be the same again, ever, ever, ever. 

One of Sinaga's victims, Daniel (pictured), bravely waived his right to anonymity to tale part in the documentary, sharing the harrowing story of being told he was raped by the monster

One of Sinaga’s victims, Daniel (pictured), bravely waived his right to anonymity to tale part in the documentary, sharing the harrowing story of being told he was raped by the monster

‘You do have think, “Would I want to know, am I better off not knowing?” But you have to know, you have a right to know’.

DS Kimberley added: ‘They just went very quiet and you see the colour drain from their face. No sort of obvious reaction, a very sort of dour look on their face.  

‘I knew giving that information, i’ve just ruined this persons life – and you could see it.’   

One of Sinaga’s victims, Daniel, bravely waived his right to anonymity to tale part in the documentary, sharing the harrowing story of being told he was raped by the monster after going out for his birthday in Manchester.  

‘When the police turned up I could see the way she looked at me that she recognised me’, said Daniel. ‘I knew she knew and when I saw her face, I just knew and it all went from there. 

‘They showed me photographs and they showed me one of my arm, I was laying on my arm and you could see my tattoo. One of the photos I said “I don’t think thats me” and then I looked again. 

‘It’s horrible to see yourself that vulnerable on photos that someone else has taken and you can see i’m comatose, I look dead. 

‘There’s a bit of relief because you know what’s happened finally and you can make sense of it. But not the relief you want. I just so wish it wouldn’t have happened.’  

Simkin also said he does 'far fewer' rape cases after the Sinaga case - calling them a graphic representation of the worst parts of human nature'

Simkin also said he does ‘far fewer’ rape cases after the Sinaga case – calling them a graphic representation of the worst parts of human nature’

Iain was asked to be lead prosecutor on the trail, recalling the horror of watching ‘videos of people being raped for hour after hour. 

‘What we had was a narrative that had been captured on film, there was the side profile where he would film himself raping the victims, then there was close up shots as well. 

‘One man who had no memory of it was violently raped, so was held down during the rape, tried to struggle free but was held down by the defendant who was savage though.  

‘At one point it was pretty clear the defendant had two men at the flat and he would go from raping one to go back to raping the other over hours and hours and hours, it was like a gothic horror story, worse really. 

‘He had to be convicted for what he had done, I cared about the result, I did care, I knew what I had to prove. And I knew he wouldn’t plead guilty, people don’t plead guilty, very rarely do they plead guilty.’ 

He was jailed for 60 years and must serve a minimum of 30 years in custody before he can be considered for parole after being convicted of 159 sexual offences in January 2020. 

Catching A Predator is available on BBC iPlayer

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