A senior employee at a Westminster hotel has been sentenced to six years in prison for rape.

Sebastian Szerer, 39, of Alexander Road, Wimbledon, was jailed on Thursday (July 30) at the Old Bailey, the Met Police said.

Following a trial at the same court, he had been convicted of one count of rape on Wednesday (July 29).

The court heard, police said, that Szerer raped the 25-year-old man at the Rubens Hotel, in Buckingham Palace Road, on April 15 2012, when he went there for a job interview.

He conducted the interview and then showed the victim around the hotel, police added. He then took him to the Queen's Suite, locked the room and proceeded to rape the victim.

The victim kept the assault secret for a year, officers added, until Szerer sent him a message on a social networking site stating: "Hello stranger".

It was this message that prompted the victim to attend Victim Support and tell them about the rape. They then encouraged him to contact the police.

On April 23 2013, Szerer was arrested and subsequently charged, a police spokesman said.

Investigating officer Detective Inspector Lee Davison, of the Sexual Offences Exploitation and Child Abuse Command, said: "Szerer abused his position as head housekeeper.

"He purposely lured the victim to the hotel on the pretext of a job interview that didn't exist. He then raped him.

"Thankfully, he has been found guilty and I praise the victim today for his decision to report this rape to the police.

"The Metropolitan Police's Sexual Offences Exploitation & Child Abuse Command will pursue all such offenders to bring them to justice and I would encourage anyone who has suffered at the hand of another to report the matter in the knowledge that they will be believed and supported."