A predator who ensnared a teenage girl on Snapchat before raping her has been jailed.

Hamza Nasir, of Pembroke Road in Ilford, pleaded guilty to two separate rapes at Snaresbrook Crown Court in October last year.

The first incident took place on January 23, 2022, when the 22-year-old met a woman in a car park outside a nightclub in Basildon.

Nasir and a group of friends offered to drive the woman to a party, and she got into their car.

The group then drove to an alleyway near to Newbury Park underground station. Nasir had claimed his car was parked nearby after the victim said that she wished to go home.

It was there that Nasir raped the woman, before making off on foot.

The second incident took place on March 15 last year, after Nasir arranged to meet a teenage girl he had befriended on Snapchat.

The two met at a home in Goodmayes, where he raped her. The girl managed to run away and call for help.

Although Nasir had not used his real name on his Snapchat profile, he had posted an image of himself at a hotel in Ilford.

Officers were able to recognise the hotel, and quickly cross-referenced his Snapchat image with the hotel’s records to identify him.

Nasir was arrested by officers investigating the Goodmayes rape the following day.

He was then linked to the Newbury Park rape after his DNA was taken in custody.

The 22-year-old has now been jailed for 14 years after a sentencing hearing on Friday (April 26).

DC Chloe James said: “I must thank both victims for supporting the police investigation and applaud their bravery.

“I am pleased that the strength of evidence that officers had assembled against Nasir meant that he entered guilty pleas, meaning the victims did not have to relive their ordeals in court.

“Women in London, and in particular the Ilford area, are safer with Nasir in prison. Once he has served his lengthy sentence, he will be on the sex offenders register for life.”