Ruckling Ramsay, aged 61, of Wanstead, east London, has been sentenced to an extended prison term of 23 years and six months at Inner London Crown Court after being convicted of kidnapping and repeatedly raping a 19-year-old woman in Sussex and abducting a second victim in London.
The initial attack commenced in the early hours of 3 July 2022 when Ramsay, driving a silver Mercedes, posed as a legitimate taxi driver and picked up a 19-year-old woman in central Brighton. During the journey, Ramsay pressured the young woman into inhaling an unidentified white powder before driving away from populated urban areas towards secluded locations near Shoreham Power Station and isolated tracks on the South Downs.
Over a four-hour period, Ramsay carried out multiple serious sexual assaults and rapes, threatening the woman with a knife during one of the attacks. At approximately 9:30 am, the victim managed to use her mobile phone to covertly send distress messages and her live location coordinates to a friend. The friend tracked the moving coordinates, located Ramsay’s Mercedes, and intervened to collect the victim as she managed to escape from the vehicle.
Sussex Police officers recovered items belonging to the victim inside Ramsay’s Mercedes, while mobile phone cell site analysis and Automatic Number Plate Recognition data confirmed his movements across Brighton and the surrounding areas during the early morning hours.
Following Ramsay’s arrest, detectives from the Metropolitan Police linked him to a second incident involving an adult woman who reported being abducted and sexually assaulted in London. Forensic scientists recovered Ramsay’s DNA profile from the second victim’s clothing, while telematics and tracking data from his Mercedes confirmed the vehicle was present at the scene. During trial proceedings, the court also admitted evidence relating to an uncharged historical allegation from 2009 involving a similar method of operation.
Under UK legislation, all victims of sexual offences are protected by lifelong statutory anonymity.
On 21 May 2026, an Inner London Crown Court jury found Ramsay guilty of all counts on the indictment, including kidnapping, rape, sexual assault, and weapons offences.
The trial judge categorised Ramsay as a dangerous offender under the Criminal Justice Act 2003, passing an extended sentence comprising a 20-year custodial term and an extended licence period of three years and six months.
Release Calculation: Because Ramsay received an extended sentence for serious sexual violence, automatic release provisions do not apply. Ramsay must serve at least two-thirds of his 20-year custodial term (a minimum of 13 years and four months) in closed prison conditions before he is legally permitted to apply to the Parole Board. Release will only be granted if parole judges determine his risk can be safely managed in the community. If freed, he will remain subject to licence conditions and supervision for the remainder of the 20-year term plus the additional three-and-a-half-year licence extension, alongside indefinite notification requirements on the Sex Offenders Register and a Sexual Harm Prevention Order.
Image – Anonymous Artist Impression
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