Crime scene Cameras and drugs found in digital house of horrors

Zenhao Zou thought, acted and offended as if he was untouchable. When detectives searched the south London flat he rented for thousands of pounds a month, they found the trappings of a comfortable, if not lavish, lifestyle.

- Vikram Dodd

Zenhao Zou thought, acted and offended as if he was untouchable. When detectives searched the south London flat he rented for thousands of pounds a month, they found the trappings of a comfortable, if not lavish, lifestyle. Detective Chief Inspector Richard Mackenzie said of the search in January 2024: "There were designer bags, jewellery, a Rolex, designer clothes, some in the wardrobe with the tags still on."

The world Zou enjoyed, financed largely by his Chinese parents, came crashing down because of the bravery of one woman. She went to the police in London in November 2023 saying Zou had raped her in his flat in Elephant and Castle.

Two days after she went to the police, Zou flew to China. On his return to London in January 2024, the Met police arrested him.

Amid that victim's pain and confusion, she found and clung to her courage. If not for her, Zou might have remained undetected.

Zou was studying at University College London for a PhD in mechanical engineering, having first come to Britain to study in 2017. Despite the appearance of comfort, Zou's flat concealed a digital house of horrors, captured on secret cameras and stored on his phone for his warped pleasure.

In all, there were 1,270 videos, 1,660 hours of footage, and 58 videos of Zou raping women. There was also an array of drugs, including those that were used for stupefying his victims.

Zou has now been convicted of attacks on 10 women, with the recovered videos being the key reason for the guilty verdicts. Police fear his offending against women in London and in China may have been much more widespread.

Det Supt Vanessa Britton said the scale and complexity of the investigation was unprecedented. "It could be an extraordinary amount of time before we have an idea of the scale of his offending," she said.