Applestar1

A former Worcester councillor has been jailed for nine years after raping a woman and attacking her with tongs and a heated knife. Shawaz Ditta, 31, was convicted by a jury of rape and two counts of assault occasioning actual bodily harm. Worcester Crown Court heard that all three offences took place in 2022. The former councillor, of Bath Road, Worcester, showed no emotion as Judge Andrew Lockhart KC sentenced him on 5 November 2026. In August 2022, Ditta threw a pair of tongs across a room in a fit of jealousy, striking the woman on the head. The blow cut her and caused bleeding. Three months later, he raped her after she had refused sex. The court heard that she was extremely drunk and had been sick repeatedly. Recalling the rape, the victim said: “I could not do anything. I could not get him off. I was feeling ill.” In a further attack, Ditta heated a knife on a stove and placed the blade against her leg, leaving her scarred. During his trial, he claimed the injury was a shaving cut, but the jury rejected his account. Judge Lockhart said the heated knife was a highly dangerous weapon and that its use showed a significant degree of premeditation. Ditta had served as a councillor in Worcester. His barrister told the court that he had been doing good work in the community and had also worked as a door supervisor. The court heard that the attacks had an overwhelming effect on his victim. She later suffered a panic attack at work so severe that she and her colleagues feared she was having a heart attack. A year-long delay to the trial added to her anxiety. Ditta was sentenced to nine years for rape, with sentences for the two assaults running at the same time. A 10-year restraining order was also imposed to protect the victim. Other charges of controlling and coercive behaviour and another assault were ordered to lie on file; they did not form part of the convictions for which he was sentenced.