Brave pensioner fights off masked man in savage rape attempt in Sheffield park
“You’ve taken so much, not just from me, but from my friends and family”
A courageous pensioner fought off a masked man as he savagely beat her during a violent rape attempt carried out in a Sheffield park.
Dressed in a balaclava, gloves and dark coat, twisted Ali Askre went to Concord Park in Shiregreen, and laid in wait for a woman to attack, Sheffield Crown Court heard.
He later told police that he had never had sex, and had decided he would “f*** the first woman he saw.”
Askre struck at around 7.30am, pushing his 73-year-old victim to the floor, before punching her to the face, prosecutor David Hall told an October 2 hearing.
Mr Hall said Askre subsequently began trying to pull her trousers down, at which point she began “resisting,” and attempting to fight him off as he was pulling at her clothes.
“She told him: ‘I’m 73. What if this was your mum or your nan, what would you do?’”
Askre ended the horrific attack a short time later.
A member of the public reported hearing screaming before seeing a masked male - subsequently identified as Askre - emerging from some bushes.
They went into the bushes to come to the aid of the screaming woman, and found the complainant - who is entitled to lifelong anonymity - lying bloodied on the floor.
The complainant suffered multiple facial injuries, including a fracture to her cheekbone and multiple fractures to her nose.
She bravely faced Askre in court to read her victim impact statement, telling him that the day of the attack earlier this year should have been one of the happiest of her life due to a family celebration planned for that day.
“However, it was the worst day of my life…you’ve taken so much, not just from me, but from my friends and family,” said the complainant.
She described how Askre left her so bloodied that when a loved one saw her in the wake of the attack they believed she was dead.
The complainant also told Askre that she had never entered into another relationship in the wake of her beloved husband’s death, and felt like Askre had also tried to take her oath to him from her.
“That’s why I fought back so hard,” she said.
Askre, aged 25, was only a short way into a two-year community order when he attempted to rape the complainant.
The hearing heard how Askre was handed the sentence for a raft of charges, a number of which relate to him sexually assaulting two paramedics dispatched to help him when he was found drunkenly passed out in Sheffield city centre in March 2025.
In the hours after the attack on the complainant, Askre attended an appointment with the probation service, ordered as part of his community sentence.
He arrived with mud on his clothes, and was not wearing any shoes, Mr Hall told the hearing.
The gloves Askre wore during the attack were also found discarded, and covered in mud, a short distance away.
Police officers attended at his address a short time later, and found him hiding in the loft of the property, after his sister attempted to divert them by telling them Askre was not there, the court heard.
Askre pleaded guilty to grievous bodily harm with intent to rape at an earlier hearing.
Defending, Ian Goldsack told the court that Askre, who came to this country aged 10, has been assessed as having a plethora of psychological issues, stemming from his traumatic start to life in Afghanistan.
At the conclusion of Friday’s hearing, The Recorder of Sheffield Judge Jeremy Richardson KC adjourned the case until today (Monday, October 5, 2026) to consider the appropriate level of sentence and remanded Askre into custody until then.
As he apologised to the complainant for the delay in proceedings, Judge Richardson commended her for her “immense courage.”