Sex attacker strangled and raped woman on Edinburgh street after house party

A sex attacker who strangled and raped a woman in the early hours of the morning after the victim left a house party has been warned that he faces a “significant” jail sentence.

Ali Chikane, 35, grabbed the woman by the neck and throttled her in a lane in Edinburgh as he subjected her to the sexual assault ordeal.

Chikane had denied attacking and raping the woman on February 5 last year at Murieston Crescent Lane in the city’s Dalry area, but was found guilty of the offence at the High Court in Edinburgh.

The court heard that after an argument, Chikane forced himself on the victim, grabbed her neck and squeezed, leaving her feeling that her eyes were popping. She began to feel dizzy and told her attacker she could not breathe.

She said of the sex attack: “I was crying. I remember swearing at him. I just remember shouting at him to stop it.”

Following the assault, the woman flagged down a passing bus as she tried to escape from her attacker.

Chikane, who followed the proceedings with the aid of an Arabic interpreter, told the court that the victim told him to have sex with her. He said: “She forced us to do sex with each other.”

The chef, who had been drinking whisky, said that afterwards he told her he did not want to have sex with her again, and she became upset.

He was convicted of seizing hold of and compressing the woman’s neck, restricting her breathing and raping her.

Chikane was placed on the sex offenders’ register.

A judge told him: “You have been convicted by the jury of rape to injury and danger of life while on bail. A significant custodial sentence is inevitable.”

Lord Arthurson said Chikane has not previously served a jail sentence, and he would call for a background report and risk assessment on the offender before sentencing him next month.

Chikane, of Edinburgh, who was on bail during his trial, was remanded in custody after the verdict.