Man found guilty of raping stranger

07/06/2007

Today at Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court, Mohammed Ahmed, 26 was found guilty by a unanimous jury of rape.

Ahmed who was a complete stranger to his victim assaulted and raped her in a pedestrian subway in Newcastle-under-Lyme.

Neil Ahuja, Senior Crown Prosecutor leading the prosecution, said after the verdict: "This was a particularly distressing case of a violent rape of a woman in a subway during the early hours. This was made all the more harrowing for her in view of him having subjected her to this sustained attack for over an hour.

"The victim will probably never be able to put this behind her, but with the guilty verdict received today I hope she can get some sort of reassurance by having the man bought to justice."

Maureen Shea, Senior Crown Prosecutor and Area Rape Co-ordinator for Staffordshire also added: "Stranger rape is very unusual, out of all rapes only a very small percentage is committed by strangers.

"However victims are far more likely to report this type of rape to the police than that of a family member or someone they know.

"Ahmeds conviction today is a credit to the victim, firstly for reporting it to the police and secondly for attending court to give evidence at this terrible time to re-live her dreadful experience."

Ahmend will be sentenced at Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court at a later date.