24 years in prison for Brighton sex attacker

Sarjo Jatta, 44, a doorman, of Eldred Avenue, Brighton was sentenced at Lewes Crown Court earlier today (December 17). He will serve 24 years in prison, the first 20 of which will be served in prison and the final four will be served on licence. He will be a registered sex offender for life.

In September, he was convicted of rape, sexual assault and false imprisonment of a 22-year-old-woman on February 8 2020, as well as of an 18-year-old woman he met in a nightclub on September 13, 2015, police said.

A Police spokesperson said Jatta was found innocent of four counts of sexual assault on a 19-year-old woman during December 11 and the rape of a woman aged 18 on August 2017.

The man was first changed in March last year, after his 22-year-old victim reported that he had offered her a lift home after she was walking past the city centre casino where he was working as a doorman. Police said that he would not let her out of his car until he had raped and sexually assaulted her.

Officers immediately arrested Jatta and found that he had been arrested four and a half years prior on suspicion of raping an 18-year-old, but that the Crown Prosecution Service did not allow the prosecution to take place.

Jatta's prosecution for both attacks followed an investigation by detectives from the Safeguarding Investigations Unit, who showed the common factors between the offences.

"Jatta was clearly a predatory offender against young women, taking opportunities to victimise them when they were in vulnerable situations," said detective constable Stewart Cameron.