A man accused of robbing lone women at knife point and raping one of them was identified by six different witnesses, a court heard.

Donovan Smith, 43, a chef, of Hungerdown, Chingford, is accused of going on a robbing spree, threatening the alleged victims with a machete and raping one of them twice in an alleyway.

The first victim, a 38-year-old woman, whom Smith is also alleged to have raped, told Snaresbrook Crown Court earlier this month that her attacker threatened to kill her if she made a sound.

Smith allegedly followed his victims off buses in the early hours of the morning and forced them to hand over valuables.

Mobile phones belonging to those who were robbed were found in Smith's house and he admitted to being the owner of the machete believed to have been used to threaten victims, Timothy Devlin, prosecuting, said.

Smith was carrying the 23cm blade, which he claimed to have been using to make jerk chicken, when he was arrested in Highams Park in May this year.

Summing up the case for the prosecution today (Thursday), Mr Devlin said: “We have six different witnesses all picking him out.

“The identity parades were entirely independent of each other.

“We also have similarities of clothing and following victims down the other side of the road, running to get in front of people, hiding behind walls and pillars, the geographical area and stolen property recovered from his home.”

He described a 'standard pattern' in which Smith would allegedly follow the victims, engage them in a brief conversation and then rob them at knife point, forcing them to put their valuables on the ground.

Smith would then poke at the items using the blade of the knife, it has been claimed.

It has also been claimed that Smith's Oyster card was used on buses in the areas where the robberies took place, as well as an Oyster card belonging to one of the women he allegedly robbed.

Smith denies 23 charges against 11 alleged victims, including a 45-year-old Polish nun, in Chingford, Walthamstow and parts of Hackney in March and May this year.

Abbas Lakhar QC, defending, will sum up his case tomorrow.