UK's worst rapist hunted victims and kept sick trophies in 'horribly morbid' way

Reynhard Sinaga was found barely conscious in a pool of blood with suspected facial fractures.

The 38-year-old mature student, originally from Indonesia, was rushed from his flat to hospital in June 2017 - but it quickly became apparent that he was not a victim.

DI Matt Gregory, who was the first detective at scene and had Sinaga's phone, describes how the injured man made several attempts to take the mobile from his hand before inputting his passcode.

The detective went to the photos app and watched five seconds of a sickening video of a man with his trousers around his ankles appearing to be raped - by the person lying in the bed in front of him.

Speaking in tonight's BBC Two documentary Catching A Predator, DI Gregory explains that Sinaga was arrested for rape and his reaction was to say: "I’m a terrible person."

What no one was aware of at that time was the horrifying scale of his crimes - and that this would become the biggest rape case in British legal history.

Sinaga had finally been exposed when one of his victims regained consciousness during the assault and fought his attacker off before reporting him to the police.

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From his flat on Princess Street, Manchester, Sinaga would target lone men who’d been on a night out and invite them into his home with the offer of somewhere to have a drink or to call a taxi.

The predator, who had done a Masters and was studying for a PhD, would watch from his apartment window for any "waifs and strays' in the area before heading down to speak to them.

"He would just go prowling the streets looking for his victims. young guys on a night out in Manchester city centre with friends," explains Detective Sergeant Kimberley Hames-Evans.

"They'd become separated somehow. Maybe ejected for being too drunk or gone outside for a smoke. The point at which then Sinaga makes his move, picks them off."

Once inside they were drugged before being assaulted and raped - with the evil predator recording the attacks and keeping personal belongings as twisted 'trophies' from his victims.

While they were still in his flat, the rapist would go onto their personal Facebook accounts and keep their personal photos of holidays, friends and family.

He catalogued these in a "horribly morbid" way and would boast to his friends - not about the actual offences but what he described as 'relationships'.

It is believed Sinaga used the drug GHB to render his victims immobile, but no evidence was found in his flat and there was no toxicology report because it leaves the system after just eight hours.

The police fully expected Sinaga to give "no comment" during his first interview, but he denied the allegation of rape despite the video evidence and victim contradicting him.

"He was lying and there were tears towards the end. I don’t think it was because of what was in front of him, I think it was another tactic to make out again that he was the victim that people didn't believe," says DC Dorothy Orr.

"Unless you’ve met Reynhard Sinaga you won’t realise the level of manipulation he has."

Sinaga was charged with one count of rape on the victim who called the police and was remanded in custody - but that was not the end.

As evidence of the horrific scale of Sinaga's offending was uncovered, the police launched the largest rape inquiry in British history.

When officers seized Sinaga's phone they found he had filmed each of his attacks - amounting to hundreds of hours of footage - which was painstakingly gone through to spot any details.

All together there was 3TB of data, which is equivalent to 750,000 photos and 750 DVDs, with the numbers of victims going from 15-a-year in 2014 to 60-a-year in 2017.

Revealing the footage found on the phone was "horrendous", DS Hames-Evans says: "There were videos upon videos of young men being sexually abused and raped.

"We get lots of reports of rape but seldom do you actually see one happen with your own eyes."

Investigators found evidence of more than 200 victims, and many had no recollection of being abused until a police officer knocked on their door to tell them they’d been attacked and filmed. Some of these men still have not been identified.

DS Hames-Evans had to travel the "length and breadth of the country, even overseas" telling people what Sinaga had done to them, knowing it had the potential to destroy their lives.

"They just went very quiet and you [could] see the colour drain from their face. Know obvious reaction. Just a very sort of dower 'oh my God' look on their face," she says

"And I knew giving them all that information that I've just ruined this person's life and you could see it."

Sinaga was charged with 159 counts of rape and other sexual offences, the largest against a single defendant in British criminal history.

Due to the unprecedented number of victims the case is spread across four trials and 48 victims bravely agree to give evidence in court.

Iain Simkin, lead prosecutor in the case against Sinaga, says he watched "savage" videos of Sinaga filming himself raping two men one after the other for hours, describing it as "worse than a Gothic horror story".

The Crown Prosecution Service barrister said he hoped the case had raised awareness of male rape, describing it as "a graphic representation of the worst parts of human nature".

While the trials were ongoing, the police continued to process evidence and in one audio tape a victim could be heard quickly losing the capability to speak coherently.

This was used as evidence that Sinaga, who claimed all his victims agreed to have sex, had not received consent.

Sinaga was convicted of 139 offences against 48 victims, but the police believe the true number of those he assaulted is closer to 200.

He was jailed for life with a minimum term of 30 years, but after a successful appeal by the CPS and CMP, Sinaga's sentence was extended to a minimum of 40 years behind bars.

The predator was originally carrying out his sentence at HMP Manchester but was later transferred to HMP Wakefield in April 2020 where he remains to this day.

Within three days of Sinaga's conviction being made public, police received over 150 calls and a further 26 victims were identified.

Greater Manchester police are continuing to investigate allegations of rape and assault against RS and encourage anyone who thinks they may have been a victim to contact them.

*Catching A Predator airs tonight on BBC Two at 9pm

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