Man in court over 1996 rapes

A suspected gang rapist has been arrested by police after more than 13 years on the run.

Dawid Wysocki, 30, was traced to Northern Ireland after he disappeared from his home in north London in 1996.

The Pole, formerly of Copenhagen Street, Kings Cross, who is also known as Andrzej Wysocki and Arthur Bryewicz, was arrested last Tuesday.

A Metropolitan Police spokesman said he appeared in court last week accused of kidnapping and raping a 17-year-old woman on 22 September, 1996.

A prostitute reported that she was kidnapped from the Commercial Street area of east London and taken to an address in Finchley, where she was attacked.

Wysocki also faced charges linked to an attack on a 24-year-old woman who was kidnapped and raped on Hackney Marshes in the same month.

The spokesman said Wysocki was remanded in custody and will appear at Wood Green Crown Court on Thursday for a preliminary hearing.