A man who pretended to be a police officer raped and robbed two Brazilian prostitutes in London, UK, after threatening them with arrest and deportation, was sentenced this Friday (5th) to 14 years in prison.
Pawel Pazola, 51, was sentenced in a court in the northwest of the British capital, charged with the crimes of rape, theft, false identity and possession of imitation firearms.
He will remain on parole for another four years after serving his sentence.
You will also be legally required to provide information to the authorities to assess and monitor your risk to society for the rest of your life.
Pazola, a native of Poland, has lived in the UK for over a decade.
In early September, he was found guilty on all counts after a two-week trial in the same court.
Pazola met both victims using an online escort site. The two prostitutes, whose names were not revealed, had not known each other before the attacks.
In both cases, posing as a police officer, Pazola threatened to arrest and deport the victims. He then raped them and took back the money he had initially paid.
During the second attack, he even wore a fake police badge and a replica firearm. He also stole other money the woman had earned.
Pazola met the first victim, who was in his early 20s, on Aug. 7, 2020 at an address in the Camden neighborhood. He forced her to have sex without a condom.
However, the woman did not want to report the attack to the police for fear of being arrested. Instead, she contacted a social worker through an NGO the next day, who helped her file the police report.
She also shared what had happened to her in a WhatsApp group to other Brazilian prostitutes working in the UK. She was later informed that a very similar incident had happened to another woman.
On August 22, 2020, Pazola met her second victim, another 20-year-old woman in Bayswater, another London borough. Pazola again forced the victim to have sex without a condom.
The first victim encouraged the second to report the attack to the police, insisting that the case would be taken seriously, and she filed the complaint five days later.
Detectives from the Metropolitan Police’s Serious Sex Crimes Team, the London police, began an investigation and identified the telephone number Pazola used to set up meetings. They also used digital and forensic evidence to track him.
The prison
Pazola was arrested on 30th August 2020 at an address in Crawley, a city south of London. After his arrest, his home address and car were searched. An imitation police badge, a replica black gun and 1,380 pounds (R$ 10,470) in cash were seized.
Pazola was indicted the next day, August 31, 2020, and preventively detained. He appeared in court and was again detained before the trial.
According to the Met, “both women were supported by specialized officers.”
The victims ended up returning to Brazil by personal choice and gave evidence on video.
Detective Sam Lockstone, who led the investigation, described Pazola as “a highly dangerous predator who sought to take advantage of victims’ vulnerabilities for his own gratification and monetary gain.”
“The Met’s response to prostitution has not changed; our priority remains to address the vulnerability and exploitation associated with street, off-street and online sex work.”
“Our approach is not to criminalize the sex workers involved, but to protect and support them, and to build mutual trust to encourage information sharing to improve security,” he added.
Detective Barbara Siembida, who was also part of the team that investigated the case, encouraged victims of such crimes to “come forward”, saying that while she understands the initial fear some may have of talking to the police, their immigration status is ” irrelevant to the investigation”.
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