Married father-of-one Cornel Filipeche, 21, was sentenced to 10 years behind bars after he dragged a woman into a phone box and raped her in Birmingham – before crying in court
A rapist who dragged his victim into a phone box before attacking her called himself a “f***ing dog” before he burst into tears in court.
Cornel Filipeche, 21, attacked a complete stranger near the One Stop shopping centre in Birmingham. The Romanian national had been pleasuring himself after he left the toilets at The Arthur Robertson Wetherspoon’s pub, just moments before he shamelessly pounced on his unsuspecting victim. Filipeche had left the pub at around 1.30am on January 18 and waited at a bus stop, where he went up to a woman and asked her for a light for his cigarette.
The father-of-one hid around the corner as she walked away and watched her cross the road, near Perry Barr train station. He terrifyingly jumped out and grabbed her before dragging her into a phone box – where he raped her and inflicted serious bodily harm, Birmingham Live reports.
This horror ordeal lasted four minutes and Filipeche ran away with the victim’s phone. Emergency services were called to the scene where they found her covered in blood, bruises and traumatised.
The married 21-year-old was jailed for 10 years and handed an extended five-year licence after a judge declared he was “dangerous”. The rapist cried in court as Judge John Butterfield said Filipeche had shown no remorse for his crime other than telling probation workers that: “I feel like a f***ing dog. I feel like s***. I don’t want to remember this.”
The judge said the attack was “profoundly troubling” and the “most horrific four minutes” of the victim’s life. The victim bravely attended the sentencing hearing and stared down Filipeche, who occasionally looked back towards the public gallery. She told the court she was too scared to leave her home after the horror incident.
The married dad was seen crying in court as he held his head in his hands. Detective inspector Emma Watson, from the force’s public protection unit, said: “I want to thank the victim for her bravery in coming forward and reporting this to us. Her actions may have saved other victims.
“West Midlands Police encourages anyone who has suffered abuse to come forward. You will be supported, and you will be believed.”
At the time of the attack, West Midlands Police issued a public appeal for information which led to Filipeche’s arrest at an address in Lozells three days later.
He pleaded guilty to rape, inflicting grievous bodily harm with intent and robbery at his first court appearance. It later emerged that he had previously assaulted a woman in Spain which earned him a six-month suspended sentence at a Court for Violence Against Women in 2023.