A Hammersmith predator who took advantage of a young woman in need of money, before raping her, has been jailed.

Javad Mahdavi-Ashford admitted one count of rape and one count of digital penetration, on July 17, two days in to his trial at Isleworth Crown Court.

The 43-year-old, of Lampeter Square, first took advantage of his teenage victim in late 2015, when she was abroad and in desperate need of money. He promised to send the then 19-year-old money in exchange for nude photographs of her, which he kept.

That was the end of their interaction until a few months later, when she was back in the UK. Mahdavi-Ashford began calling and harassing her, and threatening to post the pictures she had given him on social media sites.

Javad Mahdavi-Ashford threatened to post the woman's pictures online if she did not come to his house

She agreed to go to his Hammersmith home on March 17 2016, where he raped her. After the rape, he let the victim delete the naked pictures of her off his laptop.

Weeks later, Mahdavi Ashford began threatening her in the same way again, saying he had kept the photos on his phone. He told the young woman that unless she met him within 24 hours, he would show the nude pictures of her to her friends and family.

On March 29 2016, the victim finally reported the incidents to Metropolitan Police , who raided his home in Lampeter Square on April 2 2016.

A laptop and five mobile phones were seized from the address by police, who found one of the phones actually belonged to the victim.

Throughout his police interviews, Mahdavi-Ashford gave the officers no comments and initially pleaded not guilty to the charges, before finally admitting what he had done on the second day of the trial.

He was sentenced to nine years imprisonment on Monday (September 17) for rape and digital penetration.

Investigating officer PC Susan Phillips, from the Child Abuse and Sexual Offences Command, said: "Mahdavi-Ashford manipulated and blackmailed his victim over a period of time before raping her, using the threat of publishing her photos on social media to shame the victim into submission.

"I would like to thank the victim for her strength and determination throughout the investigation."