By Staff Reporter

Last updated at 12:01, Thursday, 13 December 2012

A man found guilty of sexually abusing a pregnant woman has now admitted trying to rape her.

Jonathon David Robinson, 25, was convicted in September of sexually assaulting the woman and causing her actual bodily harm by repeatedly punching her.

But the jury in that trial could not agree a verdict on the serious charge of raping her.

Robinson was due to face a retrial on that charge at Carlisle Crown Court yesterday.

But after discussions between lawyers the charge was dropped when he pleaded guilty instead to a charge of attempted rape.

During the trial the jury heard how Robinson subjected the woman to both physical and sexual abuse during an hour-long ordeal when he was drunk.

The jury heard that he had “quickly become aggressive and the woman quickly became very frightened”.

He was treating her so badly “her heart was pounding in her ears”, prosecuting counsel Sarah Johnson said.

He rubbed his body against hers, punched her to the body a number of times.

Ms Johnson told the court: “She told him she didn’t want him to have sex with her and she was crying.

“There can be no suggestion that there was consent here. There can be no suggestion that he thought she wanted sex.”

The court heard that after his arrest Robinson “blamed her hormones”, and claimed she had been behaving “irrationally” because she was 18 weeks pregnant.

Robinson, who used to live in Aspatria but had recently been on bail at an address in Corby, Northamptonshire, was remanded in custody for background reports.

He will be sentenced next month.

The judge has warned him to expect “a significant term of imprisonment”.

First published at 11:27, Thursday, 13 December 2012
Published by http://www.newsandstar.co.uk