A Moroccan from Gravesend in Halloween fancy dress strangled a man with a bootlace within hours of meeting him for sex.   

Rani Eddad, 20, of Old Road East, admitted causing grievous bodily harm at Blackfriars Crown Court.

He was wearing a long wig when he encountered the victim at Marble Arch Station at around 11.30pm on October 31 last year. 

Prosecutor Kerry Broome said: "At about 11.30pm he saw a man wearing a long designer Halloween wig, an Arabic-looking male.

"They caught each others eye and they engaged each other in conversation.

"They talked for a bit and the defendant said that he was Moroccan and they talked about their shared heritage.

"Eddad asked him where he was going and he said that he was going to a gay bar.

"A couple of minutes later he approached him again and asked him for a cigarette.

"It became apparent to the victim that he may be interested in him, and he invited him back to his house.

"He made it clear that this was for sex."

At the victim's home in central London they watched pornography, smoked cannabis and the victim performed oral sex on Eddad.

A short while later Eddad indicated he wanted to have full penetrative sex, and the victim stood up and faced the wall.  

TOP STORIES:

Ms Broome said: "He came up behind him, he thought he was going to give him a hug.

"What he felt was a forearm around his neck and a very severe amount of pressure applied."

After the victim collapsed Eddad pulled the bootlace around his neck.

Eddad then vanished.    

Ms Broome said: "He tried to get up and stand up but he was too weak, it took him a number of minutes.

"He went downstairs and saw that the dining room window was broken.

"It wasn't until he went back upstairs that some of the blood was coming from his nose and ears."

He had red lines visible around his throat, and the hyoid bone in his neck was broken.

One of his boots had gone missing and was later discovered with its lace missing.

Ms Broome said: "He had no idea what had happened to him whilst he was unconscious.

"He had been rendered unconscious by the chokehold, and whilst he was unconscious had Eddad had unlaced one of the victim's boots and used the lace to strangle him."

The victim contacted a neighbour - one of only three people who know about his sexuality - and told him what had happened.

Police were able to identify Eddad from CCTV footage that tracked his movements on Halloween.

When he was interviewed he said he was a 17-year-old Syrian and was acting in self-defence.

He claimed the victim offered him cannabis which knocked him out and he came round to find him trying to have sex with him.

Eddad will be sentenced at Blackfriars Crown Court on October 30.