Locations
Middle Park Way, Havant, Hampshire, PO9 & Elm Grove, Southsea, City Of Portsmouth, PO5
Description
A man has been jailed for life and a second man has been jailed for 15 years for offences including rape in Portsmouth and Southampton.
Bruno Sala, 39, who is of Portuguese nationality and previously of Middle Park Way in Havant, appeared at Portsmouth Crown Court today (Friday 28 November) where he was sentenced to life imprisonment, with a minimum term of 20 years, for six counts of rape, one count of assault and two counts of encouraging or assisting the commission of an offence.
The offences took place in Portsmouth and Southampton between 2019 and 2021, and were committed against three women in their 40s.
An investigation by Operation Amberstone teams found that Sala had met the women online and had begun relationships with them. During the relationships however, he had begun to abuse and rape them, often using violence to control them or utilizing drugs as part of the offending. In some cases, Sala subjected the women to repeated rapes and abuse.
On one occasion, when one of the woman refused consensual sex, Sala told her that he was her boss before forcing himself on her.
He also arranged situations for a second man, Edson Domingos, to rape one of the women.
Sala told the woman on one occasion that his friend hadnt raped her, as he had given him his permission.
Domingos, 41, who is of UK and Angolan nationality and formally resided on Elm Grove in Southsea, also appeared at the same court today, where he was sentenced to 15 years imprisonment, plus 3 years on licence due to dangerousness, for two counts of rape.
DC Nick Sandford-Smith from the Operation Amberstone East team said:
What has been very clear from the testaments of the women who have suffered at the hands of these men, and from our subsequent investigations, is that they are two very dangerous individuals.
Sala, who is currently already serving a 28-year jail sentence for a previous rape conviction, created situations in which he would meet a woman through a dating app and gain their trust, before revealing his true personality and subjecting them to truly horrific physical and sexual abuse.
He viewed these women as his possessions and felt that he could do with them whatever he so pleased, including offering them to other men for sex without their consent.
Sala enabled Domingos to help him continue this abhorrent abuse, carrying out despicable crimes against another human being.
The details of their actions are truly sickening and some of the most abhorrent behaviour I have ever come across.
I cannot commend the women who have stood up to these two men enough. The strength and resilience shown by all in both reporting to us, and in seeing this through the courts, is incredible.
These men have been brought to justice today because of the immeasurable bravery of these women, and whilst no sentence will ever truly be enough, I hope that seeing them put behind bars will be a step in the right direction towards rebuilding their lives.