- *WARNING – DISTRESSING CONTENT*
A vile predator who killed an NHS worker by repeatedly orally raping her as she lay unconscious on a park bench was today convicted of manslaughter.
Jurors at the Old Bailey wept as they were shown horrifying footage of the vile attack carried out by 35-year-old Mohamed Lidow.
Mother-of-three Natalie Shotter, 37, had been dead for hours before she was found by a passer-by in Southall Park, west London, on 17 July 2021.
Lidow had been prowling the park looking for women to assault and found Natalie lying on the bench.
He overstimulated the nerves at the back of her throat in the assault and caused her to have a cardiac arrest.
Jurors at the Old Bailey wept as they were shown horrifying footage of the vile attack carried out by 35-year-old Mohamed Lidow
Lidow attacked mother-of-three Natalie Shotter, 37, after she fell unconscious during a night out in Southall, West London
Ms Shotter had been dead for hours before she was found by a passer-by in Southall Park, west London, on 17 July 2021
Ms Shotter was a little more than five foot tall and weighed just 43kg at the time of her death, the Old Bailey heard.
Initially police treated her death as unexpected, then arrested Lidow on 4 August 2021
The victim’s mother, cardiologist Dr Cas Shotter Weetman, criticised the Met Police after two officers allegedly told Ms Shotter’s friend they could do nothing to help her.
She led a campaign for justice for her daughter and believes that a culture of misogyny in the Met contributed to her death.
Lidow was charged with manslaughter and rape on 21 December 2023 and convicted of both charges by the jury of eight men four women.
Ms Shotter’s family sobbed in the well of the court as Lidow was found guilty by a unanimous verdict.
He mouthed a few words to a supporter in the public gallery but otherwise showed no reaction to the verdict.
The court heard Lidow has previous convictions relating to ‘online sexual offences.’
The court heard Ms Shotter (pictured) was very vulnerable on the night of the attack
Ms Shotter (pictured with her mother) measured little more than 5ft and weighed just over six and a half stone (43kg), jurors were told
The Common Serjeant of London, Judge Richard Marks, KC, adjourned sentence until December 14.
Jurors wept at as prosecutor Alison Morgan narrated harrowing CCTV footage.
The court heard Natalie had been drinking and taking poppers before she lay down on the bench.
‘At 23.41 her arm can be seen moving, swinging a little bit, she is lying down along the bench,’ she said.
‘Natalie is lying down and there’s nothing to suggest a sudden falling down to the ground dead, or that she’s having a seizure.
‘Consuming alcohol and consuming poppers might make her lie down in that way, she must have been drowsy and semi-conscious.
‘The prosecution’s case is that even if she had consumed those substances, there was no reason for her to die before this point.
‘She may very well have been lying down on that bench thanks to what she consumed.
Ms Shotter was found dead on a bench in Southall Park (pictured), west London, in July 2021
‘What was the defendant doing there? What was he seeking to do, walking up and down the paths in the middle of the night?
The prosecutor added Lidow was ‘seeking out a vulnerable woman to rape.’
But Lidow’s barristers argued that Lidow may not have caused the death- or that Ms Shotter was dead before he came across her.
Peter Glenser, KC, defending, told jurors: ‘There is no evidence that Ms Shotter moved after 23.41, you cannot exclude the possibility that she is dead.’
Lidow, of St Paul’s Close, Hounslow, denied rape and manslaughter.