A woman raped by two wealthy students in a Soho nightclub who high-fived each other after the attack today spoke of how the ordeal still haunts her.
The victim, 23, described Lorenzo Costanzo, 26, and Ferdinando Orlando, 25, as “animals” who left her “sick in the stomach” with anger.
She now lives in “constant fear” and is too scared to drink when socialising with friends. “I no longer dress to look pretty when I go out in case I attract the wrong attention,” she added.
Costanzo and Orlando, who are Italian nationals, were jailed today for seven-and-a-half years after both being found guilty of two charges of rape.
They dragged the woman into a maintenance room six minutes after spotting her on the dancefloor of Toy Room in Argyll Street at 2am. The men took it in turns to assault her, before dumping her in the ladies’ lavatories.
CCTV showed them running up the stairs out of the nightclub laughing, high-fiving and hugging each other as they shared pictures and videos taken of the 16-minute assault on February 25, 2017. A French couple helped the victim home, and her housemate called medics because of her severe injuries which required surgery.
In a victim impact statement to be read out at Isleworth crown court, the woman said: “I felt a whole mix of emotions from shock to sick in my stomach; anger and lastly, worry … I truly struggle with how two humans could behave like such animals to another person and think of that as funny and like a badge of honour.”
Costanzo enjoyed an international playboy lifestyle as the son of a millionaire freight businessman. He was studying for a master’s degree in business and management and lived in a luxury apartment in London.
Orlando, who is taking a postgraduate degree in international law, stayed at a flat in Pimlico.
Costanzo fled to Italy within hours of the attack and Orlando left Britain about a week later. Costanzo decided to fly back to London to watch a football match a year later and was detained at Heathrow. Orlando then contacted the police and flew back by appointment.
