A man has been jailed for a spate of attacks on three women in half an hour after a group of boys followed him from the second incident, enabling police to arrest him.
Officers arrested Dylan Makepeace at the scene of one of the assaults after he had been detained by members of the public who had bravely followed him down the street.
Detective Sergeant Michael Dixon, who led the investigation for the Met’s Central East Safeguarding team, said: “Dylan Makepeace is very clearly a danger to the public and especially lone women. He was opportunistic and violent in his approach. He specifically targeted women as they returned home and entered private residential areas to carry out his attacks.
“I want to pay tribute to the bravery of these three women. They all showed incredible fortitude as they supported our investigation. I am in no doubt that London is a safer place with Dylan Makepeace behind bars.”
Dylan Makepeace, 24 (20.03.99) of Mile End Road, E1 had previously pleaded guilty at Snaresbrook Crown Court to the following offences:
– Two counts of assault by beating;
– Sexual assault on a female:
– Intentional strangulation;
– Section 20 grievous bodily harm.
On Thursday, 30 November, Makepeace was sentenced to five years imprisonment, with an additional three years on licence.
He has been placed on the Sex Offenders Register for life, and was also issued with a Sexual Harm Prevention Order.
On 27 November 2022, over a 30 minute period, Makepeace assaulted three women. His spree began at about 17:30hrs when two women noticed him behaving strangely near their address on Cleveland Way, E1.
The two women became aware that Makepeace was following them into their residential block and onto their floor despite earlier asking them how to get to a different floor.
Out of concern, one of the women began briefly filming Makepeace. All of a sudden he launched an attack on the women. Both women fought back and hit out at him. After a significant struggle in which Makepeace pushed the women to the floor and pinned them to the ground, he ran off after one of the women hit him with a mobile phone. As a result of the attack, the women sustained cuts and scratches.
After the incident, the women called police to report what had happened.
About half an hour later, at around 18:00hrs, Makepeace approached a third woman walking home from the gym and entered the communal entrance of her apartment block on Cambridge Heath Road. She became aware that Makepeace was following her in.
Inside the communal block she tried to stand to the side in the hope that he would walk past rather than follow behind her. But instead of passing her, he grabbed her and put his hand over her mouth.
She tried to scream and he told her to “shut up”. She had her house key in her hand and she tried to hit him with the key. In the struggle they both fell over, he put his fingers down her throat as she tried to scream. He also hit her head hard onto the ground.
Makepeace then began calling her offensive names before sexually assaulting her by touching her over her clothing.
The woman continued to fight back and managed to hit him with her keys. Makepeace ran off when some boys on bikes appeared outside the apartment block.
A resident heard the woman’s screams and came out to help. They took her into their flat and called police.
Police arrived on scene and were flagged down by the young men on bikes who had followed Makepeace and detained him until police arrived. Officers arrested Makepeace and carried out an ID parade which linked him to the first incident.
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As part of our New Met for London plan we are transforming how we respond to rape and serious sexual violence and re-setting our overall approach to public protection. We’re investing hundreds more officers and staff into targeting abusers, supporting victims, and making women and girls safer in town centres, parks, streets, their own homes, relationships and online.
Our service to women and girls cannot be fixed with a single initiative or over a few weeks. We must hear what those who hold us accountable, the public, victims of crime, our partners and our staff are telling us and fundamentally reset how we prevent and police violence against them in every way possible.
