Opemipo Jaji was jailed for life in 2013 after he followed a schoolgirl off the bus, dragged her into Jubilee Park, Enfield, and raped her.
Old Bailey judge Mr Justice Singh said Jaji, who already had convictions for sexually assaulting a 12-year-old girl and making indecent images of a child, was “manipulative and a liar”.
He decided only an indefinite prison sentence could ensure the public was protected from him – sentencing him to life with a minimum term of eight years.
An appeal against Jaji’s sentence was heard by a Court of Appeal judge at the end of 2025.
Jaji, who was 18 at the time of the rape and is now 30, argued that media scrutiny and racial bias led Mr Justice Singh to impose a manifestly excessive sentence.
He further argued that the judge had paid insufficient regard to his personal mitigation and that he was wrong to pass a life sentence when an extended sentence would have sufficiently protected the public.
Lord Justice Holgate, Mrs Justice McGowan DBE and Her Honour Judge Moreland considered the merits of Jaji’s appeal.
They concluded that Jaji’s sentence had not been manifestly excessive.
They refered to an extract from a pre-sentence repotrt which stated: “There is a clear escalation of seriousness in Jaji’s pattern of offending.
“This is now his third conviction for a sexual offence. In my view this [our emphasis] offence indicates that Jaji has become increasingly confident and predatory in his behaviour and there is clear evidence of a serious escalation in his risk.
“In Jaji’s offending history there are indicators of recklessness, significant risk taking, predatory behaviour and preying on vulnerable young girls.
“It has also been voyeuristic and opportunistic in nature.”
During his Old Bailey trial the court heard that the girl was attacked on her way home from school after she got off a bus in Enfield.
Jaji, who had also been on the bus after attended a probation appointment, started following her.
The girl, feeling threatened, crossed the road three times before starting to run.
But Jaji grabbed her and took her to a secluded part of the park where he raped her over the course of three hours.
Jaji denied rape during the trial but accepted he did commit the offence prior to his sentencing.
