@Ztx - not just a number

A former Conservative councillor for Worcester City Council has been jailed for nine years after being convicted of raping a woman and carrying out two violent assaults on her using household items as weapons. Shawaz (also known as Shafaz) Ditta, 31, of Bath Road, Worcester, was sentenced at Worcester Crown Court on 5 November 2026 by Judge Andrew Lockhart KC. A jury found him guilty of one count of rape and two counts of assault occasioning actual bodily harm. All three offences took place in 2022, the same year he was elected in May to represent the Bedwardine ward as a Conservative councillor. The first assault occurred in August 2022. In a fit of jealousy, Ditta threw a pair of kitchen tongs across a room, striking the woman on the head and causing a cut that bled. Around three months later, in November, he raped her after she refused sex. The court heard she was extremely drunk, had been repeatedly sick, and was physically incapacitated. She later told the court: “I could not do anything. I could not get him off. I was feeling ill.” The judge noted that she had been carried upstairs by Ditta and his brother before the rape. In a further attack, Ditta heated a kitchen knife on a stove and pressed the blade against the woman’s leg, leaving her with a permanent scar. During the trial he claimed the injury was a shaving cut, but the jury rejected his account. Judge Lockhart described the heated knife as a “highly dangerous weapon” whose use showed “a significant degree of premeditation.” He characterised the overall case as “a rape bracketed by two offences of violence.” Ditta showed no emotion as the nine year sentence was imposed. The rape carried a nine year term, with concurrent sentences for the two assaults. He was also given a 10 year restraining order preventing him from contacting or approaching the victim. Additional allegations of controlling or coercive behaviour and a further assault were ordered to lie on file and did not form part of the convictions for which he was sentenced. The court heard that the attacks had an overwhelming psychological impact on the victim. She later suffered a severe panic attack at work that colleagues feared was a heart attack, and a roughly year long delay to the trial added to her anxiety and distress. Ditta’s defence presented 23 character references citing community work and his role as a door supervisor, and noted he had no previous convictions (only a 2013 caution for harassment). These did not prevent the substantial custodial sentence. While serving as a councillor, Ditta was criticised for poor attendance (missing 22 of 50 meetings) and was reprimanded for making inappropriate remarks to someone in Worcester city centre. He was instructed to write a letter of apology, but a December 2024 council report confirmed none had been provided. The conviction has prompted shock among local politicians and questions about Conservative Party candidate vetting. Council leader Lynn Denham said many were surprised he was elected and that people who knew him beforehand did not consider him an ideal candidate. Worcestershire Conservative Party chairman Marc Bayliss described the offences as “heinous and absolutely unacceptable,” while Reform UK and other parties also condemned the crimes and the damage done to public trust.