Man raped woman after offering her job, court hears

A man made a woman feel like "prey" when he raped her in a barbershop after offering her a job, a court has heard.

Jowad Haji, 24, winked at the woman and made remarks about her body before he attacked her in the back room of Barberia in Stratford-upon-Avon, in January, Warwick Crown Court was told.

Prosecutor Simon Hunka told the jury the victim, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was attacked after following Haji to the room believing she was going to sign paperwork.

Haji, of Park Street, Coventry, who is charged with rape, attempted rape, sexual assault, assault by penetration and intentional strangulation in relation to the incident, denies the allegations.

Hunka told the court that Haji had made a comment about the size of the woman's breasts and bottom and called her a "pretty girl", when he offered to pay her £100 or £150 a day at the shop.

Jurors heard the woman had been accompanied by a friend, but she left shortly after her arrival.

The prosecutor said: "She waited while Haji worked. She noticed him winking at her. Then the haircut he was performing finished which left the two of them alone.

"She sensed at that point the air changed, that she felt like prey. That's how she described it to the police."

As she went to the back room, Hunka said: "[Haji] beckoned her closer, saying 'you are sad' or 'you look sad, you should come closer'.

"He then took hold of her hands, pulled her towards him and put his arms around her.

"When she tried to push him away, he trapped her arms. He put her wrists together with one hand and put the other hand on her throat, holding her firmly while he tried to kiss her."

Hunka said she resisted, but Haji "responded by grabbing her even more tightly" before kissing her, inappropriately touching her, raping her and trying to rape her for a second time.

The attack only stopped when the woman's friend returned to the shop, the jury heard.

At that point, the prosecutor said the woman was "trying not to be sick, was crying and shaking" and wanted to burn her clothes.

The woman went to the police a few weeks later and Haji was arrested.

He denied the allegations, telling police they had kissed consensually on a few previous occasions but "things never progressed beyond kissing", the court heard.

"Mr Haji [is] saying they were in fact much closer than [the alleged victim] would say, that they simply engaged in something they had done before – a consensual kiss that [the woman] instigated."

Haji is being assisted by a Kurdish interpreter during the trial, which is expected to last four days.

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