A sexual predator who threatened, beat and raped a woman he befriended has been jailed.

Michael Chand, 46, of Acacia Gardens, Tottenham, was sentenced to life imprisonment to serve a minimum of 10 years at Wood Green Crown Court on April 24.

He was found guilty of three counts of rape and one count of assault on February 16 following a trial at the same court.

The Metropolitan Police said that on August 16 Chand called the victim to come to his address.

Asking her if she found him attractive, he became verbally abusive and angry when she did not provide the answer he wanted.

He told her she was not allowed to leave the house and began hitting her and threatening violence towards her and others she knew.

The victim repeatedly told Chand she did not want to have sex with him but he continued to physically assault her before raping her on three separate occasions.

Two days later on August 18 a woman called police to say she had been raped by a man she had recently met.

She told officers she had met Chand less than a week earlier and struck up a friendship.

Detectives began an immediate search for Chand, who had left London.

When he returned later that day, he was arrested and taken into custody before being charged.

Chand initially claimed the victim had instigated the contact between them and pursued his company.

By analysing phone data, officers proved that this was a lie and helped build their evidence against him.

Detective Constable Cameron Crighton, who led the investigation, said: “Chand is a sexual predator who subjected the victim in this case to horrendous sexual and physical abuse.

“The victim showed incredible bravery by coming forward to police, providing a full account of what had happened and then reliving this by giving evidence in court.

"She is central to this conviction and we do not underestimate the strength it has taken for her to do this.

“We take all reports of sexual assault extremely seriously and encourage anyone who has been subject to such offending to come forward and speak to us.”