Man convicted of raping a 15-year-old he befriended at Hackney Sports Center 35 years ago

A rapist already in prison has been convicted of attacking a young girl in east London 35 years ago.

Patrick Simms, 58, was found guilty of rape of a person under 16 after a 14-day trial at Wood Green Crown Court on Thursday.

Simms. Already serving a life sentence for three rapes committed in Hackney in 1993 and 1999, he was sentenced to a further nine years in prison. The court heard the new victim came to police in 2019 to report a rape that had occurred in 1987 when she was just 15 years old.

Detective Sergeant Matthew Cooksey, who led the investigation, said: “Simms is a frequent offender and we are pleased that he has now been brought to justice for this offense.”

“Throughout the trial he did his best to derail the matter and manipulate the jury. I’m glad they saw through these attempts and unanimously condemned him.

“I would like to thank the victim for coming forward and providing the crucial evidence needed to convict him. We hope this shows that we always take reports of this type seriously, no matter how much time has passed. We would urge anyone else who has been a victim of such crimes to come forward and speak to us.”

“The victim told officers that she met Simms, then 22, at a leisure center in Hackney. They started chatting and he offered her a ride, which she accepted. He then took her back to his address on the Holly Street Estate in Hackney where he raped her.

DS Cooksey said the victim did not report the crime because she thought she would not be believed and it would be a disgrace to her and her family. After counseling, she came forward in 2019 and reported.

The victim was able to tell officers Simms’ name and positively identify him as her attacker.

In a statement read out in court, the victim explained the impact of the “cruel” rape on her life.

She wrote: “When my daughter reached the age of 16 and the #metoo campaign began, I felt a greater need to find out where this person was who had hurt me at such a young age. I couldn’t bear that this could happen to my daughter. I was really worried about it.

“This person cannot be trusted to live among us in society, he was a danger to women from a young age and in my opinion will always be a danger. He hurt me in the most cruel and vicious way and I will never be able to shake the memory of him raping me. But in seeking justice for what he did, I can allow myself to conclude… I can be proud of the strength, courage and patience it took to get through the three years of this entire legal process to bring, and painful memories of the 35 years in which I held on to a very good thing. I can now try to let this go because I have been heard and justice has been served.”

Judge Lucas, the Honorary Clerk of Haringey, told the court: “Having set out the history and facts of this offense and the history of Mr Simms’ subsequent offenses and also his calculating behavior during the course of the trial, I am left with not the slightest bit of self doubt Mr Simms is extremely dangerous.

“When he is released from prison, I have not the slightest doubt that other women will be subjected to the same type of non-consenting sexual abuse as his victims in the past.

“My sincere thanks go to the prosecutor, Mr Hooper, and the OIC, DS Cooksey, for their assistance in an extremely difficult case.”