After raping a woman in Coventry, Muhammad Ans moved to Devon and attacked other victims
Muhammad Ans was convicted of four counts of rape (Image: Devon and Cornwall Police )
A predatory rapist who targeted victims through dating apps and struck in Coventry has been jailed.
Muhammad Ans was found guilty of four rape charges involving three women following a fortnight-long trial at Plymouth Crown Court. The 29-year-old received a 20-year prison sentence, with an additional three years on extended licence upon release.
The court was told how Ans encountered the three women via dating apps between 2023 and 2025. His first victim was contacted through Bumble before they arranged an in-person meeting towards the close of 2023.
Following their initial date over a meal, he brought her to his Coventry accommodation, where he raped her. He proceeded to rape her once more during subsequent incidents in early 2024, reports Plymouth Live.
Ans contacted his first victim again in August 2024, requesting another meeting. She challenged him about the rapes through a series of messages, and he “apologised and offered to take her out shopping and to go for meals together” – which she declined.
Merely a week afterwards, Ans connected with his second victim via the Baddoo app. By then, he had relocated to Tavistock, residing in a flat.
Following an exchange of messages with his second victim, he collected her in his vehicle and drove her to his flat, where they consumed alcohol. The victim clearly stated she did not consent to sexual activity, yet Ans raped her.
Text exchanges presented to the court between Ans and his second victim revealed that after dropping her at home, she messaged him confronting him about the rape. Ans replied to his second victim with an apology, stating “that he couldn’t stop himself”.
Ans proposed taking his second victim on a shopping trip and professed a desire to spend time with her at the seaside. However, she declined his advances and informed him of her intention to report the rape to authorities. That very day, the victim came forward to police, with Detective Constable Craig Ferguson assigned to lead the investigation.
Plymouth Crown and County Court(Image: Matt Gilley/PlymouthLive)
Officers identified Ans and traced his vehicle registration. A wanted appeal was circulated for Ans, who was eventually tracked down in Leeds having fled from Tavistock.
When questioned, Ans refuted the allegations but acknowledged having met the victim. He maintained that all intimate contact had been consensual and suggested his admissions in text messages were “confusion on his part despite his clear acknowledgement and apologies.”
Police confiscated Ans’ mobile phone for forensic analysis. He was released on bail with strict conditions prohibiting any contact with the victim.
In August 2025, officers identified a third victim. She revealed to police that she’d connected with Ans via Tinder and had shared a drink with him before returning to her address, where he raped her.
Ans faced a further arrest concerning the third victim and was subsequently charged and held in custody.
While examining Ans’ phone, DC Ferguson uncovered messages between Ans and his first victim, who was then traced and verified that she too had been raped by Ans.
Additional charges were brought against him for these crimes, with all three victims’ cases consolidated into one prosecution.
At the sentencing hearing, the court received statements from all three women who had been raped by Ans. The first victim stated: “I’m finding it hard to describe the initial impact of Ans’ rape. After the violent event occurred, it felt like I had to burn everything that made up the woman I was, so that then it would have happened to her rather than me.
“I rarely slept, and when I did, nightmares accompanied me. My anxiety was through the roof, supplemented by intrusive thoughts, intense nausea, and debilitating panic attacks.
“Ans clearly saw the pain he had inflicted on me and then went on to hurt others in the same way. I truly believe that he is a dangerous and predatory man. No sentence can undo the damage he has caused or the years I will continue to live with the consequences of his actions.”
Muhammad Ans was convicted of four counts of rape (Image: Devon and Cornwall Police )
In her statement, the second victim revealed: “When I think about what Ans did to me; him raping me started a chain of events that have led to some of the darkest and most difficult times that I have faced in my life.
“I still feel an intense amount of anger and rage towards him. I had told him ‘NO’, and I had pushed his hands away and pulled my leggings back up. My words meant nothing to him, and I now recognise that he had already decided what was going to happen to me, regardless of whether I consented to it or not.
“People think that a rapist is someone hiding down an alley, or in a bush with a knife, that will drag you away and force themselves on you… but Ans made me realise that a rapist can be charismatic, educated and can arrive with a smile.
“Regardless of how he portrayed himself to me and others he is nothing but a rapist monster. He is a disgusting human being, and I hate him with every part of me.”
The third victim stated: “In terms of the physical impact, it took me many weeks before I was able to sleep properly again. Even now, I continue to experience nightmares and flashbacks relating to what happened. I became scared to be at home on my own in-case he showed up, my own home felt wrong and unsafe.
“Psychologically, the impact of these events has affected almost every aspect of my life. I have suffered from severe anxiety and panic attacks as a result of my experience with Ans.
“The events have significantly affected my ability to trust others, particularly men. I find it difficult to form new relationships now as a result. As a girl who just wanted her happy ending, I feel I have paid a high price for trying to find it.
“I see Ans as directly responsible for my current symptoms and state of mind. If I hadn’t met him and he hadn’t done these things to me, I believe that I would be in a very different position now in my life. I feel that he is a risk to women, and that he used me sexually despite me making my boundaries clear.”
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During sentencing, Judge Matthew Turner KC remarked that each victim had been in “a vulnerable position” in their lives at the time of Ans’ horrific crimes. He noted that the woman initially found Ans charming, yet he preyed upon that to carry out rapes and satisfy his own sexual desires.
Judge Turner described Ans’s lack of recognition of his criminality as “deeply troubling”, noting a complete disconnect between how he viewed his actions and his “single-minded pursuit of your own sexual gratification”. Ans will also be required to sign the sex offenders register for life.
DC Ferguson said: “I welcome the sentence of Muhammad Ans today. In this case all three women were unknown to each other yet their experiences of Ans were all incredibly similar. The evidence clearly showed that he made the same types of comments and offers towards each victim after raping them.
“This included apologising to them, telling them that it was a mistake, and that people make mistakes when first meeting, as well as offers of giving certain victims money and to take them shopping. In relation to one of the victims, it was also explained that he had offered to pay her $3,000 in compensation if she would ‘leave it’. This victim refused his offer and had screenshot the messages he had sent, and sent these on as part of her evidence.
“Ans is a sexual predator who targeted these women on dating sites with the sole purpose of meeting up with them for sex. His motivation was clear. These women were looking for meaningful relationships, and were not seeking casual sexual encounters, and they made this clear to Ans.
“Despite this Ans created situations where they were each caused to be alone with him, and he then proceeded to rape them, and forced them into depraved sexual acts. Ans was driven by his sexual appetite, and the voices of his victims did not matter to him. He chose what was going to happen, and he forced his will onto others.
“Their clear boundaries and lack of consent did not matter to him. I want to pay tribute to the bravery and resilience of the three victims in this case who have each displayed tremendous courage and strength, both in giving their evidence to the police, but also in attending the court to give their evidence in a lengthy trial.
“The trial has been complex process, and the victims have shown patience and resolve in waiting to provide their evidence to the court. This case could not have brought without their support, and I want to thank each of them personally. Ans has been found guilty of these heinous crimes and he will now be imprisoned for a lengthy period in custody.
“We remain committed to supporting women and girls who are victims of violence, and those persons who have been the victim of sexual offences. We will listen and will actively seek charges and prosecutions against those responsible for such offending.