Horror as woman raped on canal path and told – ‘Now I have to kill you’

A man has been jailed for 34 years for raping and trying to kill a young woman on a canal towpath in Leicestershire last year. Macauley Worden, 28, attacked a young homeless woman near Belton Road in Loughborough in the early hours of August 30, 2025. Having been convicted of attempted murder, rape, sexual assault and robbery following a trial in April, Worden was sentenced on Friday when he appeared at Leicester Crown Court.

The court heard Worden grabbed the woman, pushed her to the ground and repeatedly punched and raped her. Worden had taken heroin and crack cocaine when he was walking along the canal at about 1am. He came across the victim, a young 21-year-old homeless woman and former student, who was sleeping rough under a canal bridge, and asked to borrow her phone.

As reported by LeicestershireLive, Worden then walked off with it and after she tried to get it back he punched her to the ground and then punched her in the face about ten times before raping her.

Judge William Harbage KC said he told her not to scream before “violently raping her.” After he raped her, he told the woman: “Now I’ll have to kill you”. He took the cord from her hoodie and wrapped it around her neck.

She managed to get her fingers under the cord and pulled it away from him. He then grabbed the belt from her shorts and tried to strangle her with that. She managed to throw that away too.

That’s when Worden pushed her into the canal, the judge said. Worden tried to persuade her to get out of the water, but she was able to swim and get to the opposite bank, the court heard. Worden hurled all her belongings into the canal, and made off from the scene taking her phone and wallet.

She fled to a nearby bus depot cold, wet, bruised, with no lower clothing, a part from her socks. She had several bruises and abrasions to her head, face and knees.

Police said Worden, of no fixed abode, was arrested on September 3 and was found sleeping rough in a tent around a mile from where the incident occurred. Despite Worden’s DNA being found, he elected trial, claiming the sex was consensual, the BBC reports.

After a six-day trial, he was found guilty of attempted murder, rape, sexual assault by penetration and robbery in April 2026. He also admitted a charge of assault occasioning actual bodily harm, which he pleaded guilty to partway through the trial.

On Friday, Worden was placed on the sex offender register indefinitely and also made subject to an indefinite restraining order, prohibiting contact with the victim.

The judge jailed Worden for 34 years adding on a further five years of extended licence.

Detective Inspector Majid Zaveri, from Signal, Leicestershire Police’s specialist rape and serious sexual assault team, was the senior investigating officer.

He said: “I hope the sentence passed today has provided the victim with a degree of closure which will allow them to move on with their life.

“The strength and courage they’ve shown throughout the investigation – and particularly during the court process – is testament to their character and determination to ensure that Worden was brought to justice for what was undoubtedly a violent and incomprehensible attack.”

Detective Constable Chris Fox, the officer in the case, added: “We will always take a zero-tolerance approach to anyone committing sexual offences.

“Today’s sentence shows that the courts also take a similar approach and will ensure that those responsible are locked up for a significant amount of time, meaning that they cannot cause harm to our communities.

“I hope this outcome provides reassurance to the public and encourages anyone who has been a victim of a sexual offence to come forward and seek justice.”