Two men are facing jail after being convicted of raping a woman in a Soho night club. the rape was so brutal that she required surgery in the wake of the attack, PA Media has reported.
The convicts — Ferdinando Orlando, 25, and Lorenzo Costanzo, 26 — targeted the victim at a club in Argyll Street in the early hours of February 26, 2017.
The pair, both Italians, escaped justice for over a year by returning to Italy, but were caught when Orlando came to the UK in March 2018 for a football match.
Orlando was arrested at Heathrow and taken into custody and charged with rape the following day.
After Orlando’s arrest, Costanzo contacted police and arranged to return to the UK where he also was arrested and charged.
The two men claimed the sex was consensual, but were convicted at Isleworth of four counts of rape.
During the trial, the court heard the pair met the 23-year-old on the dance floor at around 2am where they both began to kiss her.
On CCTV, the victim can be seen to be visibly drunk as she is passed between the two men who take turns to kiss her.
Just eight minutes after meeting, the two defendants then had to prop her up as they escorted her to a maintenance room where they both raped her.
The two defendants had to break the lock on the room to get in.
Sixteen minutes later, the two men emerged with the victim and rearranged her clothing before supporting her as they walked her to the female toilets where they abandoned her.
Orlando and Costanzo were then captured running up the stairs out of the club and high-fiving each other in the street before one of them showed the other something on a mobile phone.
At trial, both men admitted watching the attack back on the phone.
The victim remained in the toilet for over an hour before she was found by staff.
She was helped home by a French couple, and her housemate found her to be in such severe pain that the London Ambulance and the police were called.
She was then taken to hospital for surgery.
Investigating officers quickly established that Costanzo had left the country and returned to Italy just hours after the attack, while Orlando left a week later.
Detective Sergeant Rebecca Woodsford said, “Costanzo and Orlando though that they could attack a vulnerable victim, brag about it and then get away with it.
“They were very wrong and will now pay the price for their actions.”
She added: “This was a long and thorough investigation, with no forensic leads and hours of CCTV to track through.
“I really hope that this sends a message to anyone who has been, or believes they have been the victim of a serious sexual assault that we will do all that we can to investigate each case fully and seek to prosecute those responsible.”
