Sunny Islam, aged 38, who was convicted of a series of predatory kidnappings and rapes across London, has been recommended for a transfer to open prison conditions despite the Parole Board determining that his release into the community would still present a significant danger to the public.
Islam was sentenced in 2011 after being convicted of seven counts of rape, sexual assault, and kidnapping. The offences were committed during a three-month campaign of violence across east London in 2010. The court heard that Islam stalked and seized female victims directly from the street, threatened them with a knife, physically restrained them, and subjected them to rapes. During police interviews following his detention, Islam told officers that he carried out the attacks to “teach them a lesson”.
His victims included a 15-year-old child. During the assault, the girl attempted to deter him by pleading that she was only 11 years of age. Metropolitan Police detectives identified Islam after matching his girlfriend’s vehicle registration to the abduction and rape of the teenager in September 2010, after which forensic DNA evidence directly linked him to three further attacks.
Under UK legislation, all victims of sexual offences are protected by lifelong statutory anonymity.
At his sentencing hearing, trial judge Patricia Lees highlighted Islam’s overt hostility towards women out at night, observing that he treated them as though they were undeserving of respect or legal protection. Islam received an indeterminate sentence of Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) with a minimum tariff of 11 years. Although his minimum tariff expired in 2021, he has remained detained in closed prison custody.
Following his latest parole review, the Parole Board formally refused his application for release on licence. The panel concluded that risk management plans in the community were insufficient to guarantee public protection, highlighting persistent concerns regarding violent and controlling sexual behaviour, impulsivity, and relationship stability.
Despite refusing release, the panel recommended that Islam be transferred to open prison conditions to test his behaviour in lower-security settings, noting his completion of prison-based rehabilitation programmes addressing sex offending, thinking skills, and victim awareness. A request made by one of the victims for the parole proceedings to be held in public was refused by the board, following representations that the prospect had caused Islam severe anxiety.
The recommendation to move Islam to an open prison is not legally binding on the Ministry of Justice; the final determination rests with the Secretary of State.
Image – Anonymous Artist Impression
Harris’s custodial record includes further violent offending. Following a diagnosis of paranoid schizophrenia and a transfer to a medium-secure psychiatric hospital, Harris attacked and broke the nose of a male staff nurse in 2013. He was convicted of inflicting grievous bodily harm, receiving an additional consecutive four-month sentence before being returned to the prison estate in 2014.
Following the dismissal of the reconsideration request, Harris will be released into the community subject to lifelong parole licence conditions, which include strict supervision, exclusion zones, and immediate recall to custody should he breach any terms.
Image – Anonymous Artist Impression
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