A man has been found guilty of rape following an attack on a street sex worker in Swindon in April 2021.
Mustafa Naro Ali, 30, of no fixed address, was found guilty of rape and sexual assault by penetration on Friday (12 November) following a unanimous jury verdict at Swindon Crown Court. The trial lasted for five days.
Det Sgt Louise Kuklinski, of Swindon CID, who was the officer in the case, said: “This verdict is testament to the victim in this case, who I would like to publicly praise for having the courage to not only come forward and report to police the awful events of that night in April, but to bravely give evidence to the jury of what she was put through.
“I want to ensure that all victims feel that they can have the courage to go through this process with our guidance and support.
“Wiltshire Police takes offences of this nature extremely seriously and this case reflects the dedication of our officers in ensuring offenders of these crimes are investigated, charged and punished.
“We will always ensure that these cases are taken forward to court when we have the evidence available to us. Violence and sexual offending will simply not be tolerated and we are fully committed to protecting women within our community.
“This case in particular clearly demonstrates our commitment to safeguarding sex workers within our communities. It is absolutely vital that sex workers feel they can report these serious crimes and that we will do everything we can to reduce threat, harm and risk to some of the most vulnerable people within our communities.
“Multi-agency work with our partners is key and essential to this. We must all work together to achieve positive outcomes and keep everybody on our streets safe.
“I would also like to recognise the work and commitment of the Crown Prosecution Service during the building of this case and the excellent dedication of prosecution counsel, Mr Welling in securing the conviction in court.”
Ali has been remanded in custody and will be sentenced on January 14, 2022, at Swindon Crown Court.
