Esa Juwara: Serial rapist attacked Birmingham sex workers

Esa Juwara will be sentenced at Birmingham Crown Court at a later date

A serial rapist has been convicted of a string of attacks on women in Birmingham.

Esa Juwara, 21, targeted sex workers in the Ladywood area of the city from 2019, West Midlands Police said.

He violently attacked his victims, holding his bike chain around one woman's neck and punching another so hard she lost a tooth.

At Birmingham Crown Court on Wednesday he was found guilty of 11 offences including five counts of rape.

He was also found guilty of attempted rape, sexually assaulting a girl aged between 13-16, false imprisonment, kidnap with intent, possession of an offensive weapon and assaulting an emergency worker.

Det Insp Dave Bates, from West Midlands Police, commended the victims' bravery in coming forward.

"They can be incredibly proud that they have prevented further attacks on more women as there is no doubt in my mind that Juwara would have continued his offending," he said.

Juwara, of Lighthorne Avenue, Ladywood, approached his first victim on Reservoir Road in March 2019, police said, and threatened her with a knife when she refused his advances.

In July that year, he attacked another sex worker on Ladywood Road. She managed to escape but not before Juwara punched her and struck her with a bike chain, leaving her bruised and missing a tooth.

However three months later police said he crossed paths with the same victim on Icknield Port Road. Unable to fight him off, Juwara repeatedly punched her and raped her.

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West Midlands Police said the attacks were "shockingly violent" and became increasingly frequent as Juwara raped a further two women.

One was left unconscious after he attacked her with a bike chain around her neck.

He was arrested by plain-clothed police officers in January 2020, and when he was approached he threatened the female officer with his bike chain.

Juwara will be sentenced on 11 June.