A serial rapist who attacked four women in east London during a three-month reign of terror could soon be freed.
Sunny Islam, now aged 37, was handed an indefinite sentence in 2012 after being linked to the violent sex attacks in which he armed himself with a knife and plastic cable ties.
Victims were traumatised after they were dragged from the street, tied up and subjected to brutal beatings at Islam's hands.
Although police fear there may be more victims who have never come forward, Islam is now lobbying for freedom at an upcoming Parole Board hearing, The Mail reports.
The hearing will be held behind closed doors despite one victim's application for public proceedings, after it was heard Islam suffered “anxiety” at the thought of facing the public.
The Parole Board has now acquiesced to his lawyer's arguments for the session to be conducted privately.
Islam's solicitor said: “Since learning that an application has been made for the oral hearing to be held in public, the prisoner has reported a dramatic increase in his anxiety, including sleep disturbance.
“This could be a potentially de-stabilising effect. He is in the process of seeking medical advice in relation to those difficulties; however, at this stage, no documentary medical evidence is available due to the short space of time elapsed.
“While this factor is not relied upon as determinative, it is relevant to the Board’s assessment of the likely impact of a public hearing on [the prisoner’s] ability to participate effectively and give his best evidence.”
Although no medical evidence was given in support of these argument, Judge Jeremy Roberts ruled against public proceedings, noting both Islam's "anxiety" and the potential impact on other victims whose thoughts are not known on the matter.
Islam, who said he came from a devout Muslim background, was 21 when he launched a series of sex attacks in 2010.
Police tracked him down after his third sickening assault took place in September of that year, when he kidnapped a 15-year-old girl off the street and ignored her pleas telling him she was only 11.
Islam told the girl he would "teach her a lesson" for being out alone at night and drove her to an isolated spot where he raped her.
In a victim impact statement, the girl said: “No one will ever understand the flashbacks, they are so real, at night I lay in my bed and it is like I am there.
“It is like a screen in my mind forcing me to relive that night again and again. People will say time will heal, but I think time has helped me accept the truth — that I will never escape what happened.”
Judge Patricia Lees told Islam in the dock: "You told her you were going to ‘teach her a lesson’... Those words are a chilling indictment of your very troubling attitude towards all of these victims.
"You seem to observe women out at night as not deserving respect or protection.
“The harm you have done to your victims is incalculable."
Detectives were able to link Islam's registration plate to an earlier sex attack in July of that year, when he beat a 20-year-old sex worker and subjected her to a double rape, as well as a second attack that month on a 28-year-old woman in Forest Gate who he kidnapped, strangled and sexually assaulted.
When officers finally raided Islam's home address in Barking, blood found in his car was traced to a fourth and final victim - a 31-year-old woman who had been tied up and severely beaten while being raped.
At Woolwich Crown Court in 2012, Islam was convicted of seven counts of rape, one of sexual assault and one of imprisonment.
At his sentencing he was told he would serve a minimum term of 11 years, which expired in 2021 due to time already served.
The Parole Board has been approached for comment.
