Two Nigerian men living in the United Kingdom, Tosin Dada and Solomon Adebiyi, are facing the possibility of life imprisonment after being convicted of multiple counts of rape by a jury at Northampton Crown Court. The convictions come in connection with an incident involving a 17-year-old girl that took place in March 2022.
The Northamptonshire Police announced the convictions on their official Facebook page, stating that both Dada, 34, formerly of Knox Road, Wellingborough, and Adebiyi, 39, formerly of Stanley Street, Northampton, were each charged with three counts of rape. The two men had claimed that the sexual activity with the teenager was consensual, but the jury found these claims to be false, delivering a unanimous guilty verdict after eight hours of deliberation.
The trial, which lasted nine days, concluded with both men being remanded in custody. They are scheduled to be sentenced on October 25, 2024, at Northampton Crown Court.
The possibility of life imprisonment for Dada and Adebiyi is grounded in the UK’s Sexual Offences Act 2003, which allows for a maximum sentence of life in prison for rape. According to information from Lawtons Solicitors, a UK-based law firm, and the feminist charity organization Rape Crisis (England & Wales), while the average prison sentence for rape ranges from four to 19 years, there is no statutory minimum sentence for the crime.
“Sentencing for rape convictions generally starts from four years imprisonment, but this is rare and typically reserved for category three offences. The maximum sentence for rape is life imprisonment. However, being sentenced to life does not necessarily mean spending the entire life in prison. Usually, a life sentence translates to about 15 years in prison, followed by a life licence, meaning the individual can be called back to prison if they commit another crime,” a representative from Lawtons Solicitors explained.
Rape Crisis (England & Wales) further elaborated on the severity of the crime, stating on their website, “Rape is defined as someone with a penis penetrating another person’s vagina, anus, or mouth without consent, and it carries a maximum sentence of life in prison.”