Man sentenced to 10 years in prison after being found guilty of rape

A man has been sentenced to 10 years in prison after being found guilty of rape following a four-day trial at Guildford Crown Court.

 

Constantin Lascar, 30, was convicted at an earlier hearing on 26 November and was sentenced yesterday (30 November).

The offence occurred while Lascar was working at the Mandolay Hotel in Guildford in the early hours on 25 August 2018. He plied his victim with alcohol before taking her back to one of the hotel bedrooms, where he vaginally raped her.

He was arrested and interviewed on three occasions before being charged and summonsed in January 2020.

Lascar failed to attend court for his trial but has remained in contact with his defence counsel throughout.

Detective Constable Drew Dunmill, from the Sexual Offences Investigation Team, said: “This has been a lengthy and protracted investigation, with the added complication of the defendant not being able to return to the UK for his trial.

“I would like to commend the victim for her bravery and tenacity throughout, and hope that the fact he is now behind bars will help her begin to come to terms with what has happened.

“Lascar knew what he was doing by deliberately giving her alcohol and then taking advantage of her when she was at her most vulnerable.

“We will now be seeking to extradite Lascar from Romania so we can bring him back to the UK to serve his prison sentence.”  

DC Dunmill added: “His behaviour simply cannot be condoned and I hope that the sentence he has received demonstrates our commitment to carrying out a full and thorough investigation when we receive any allegation of a sexual offence.”

For more advice and information, including where to find support if you have been the victim of a sexual offence, please go to our web site https://www.surrey.police.uk/advice/advice-and-information/rsa/rape-and-sexual-assault/