Rapist admits attempted murder of prostitute

A convicted rapist is facing a lengthy jail term after he today admitted trying to murder a prostitute in a hammer attack.

Christopher Hughes, 28, hit Loredana Cirstouiu repeatedly on the head at his flat in Bravington Road, Maida Vale, west London.

The blonde Lithuanian was sitting in the property when she felt a series of blows from behind and heard Hughes shouting: "I'll kill you."

She fled the basement property by smashing the glass in the bedroom window during the early hours attack in April.

Her head was covered in blood after she suffered a 1.6-inch cut and she also hurt her leg as she kicked out in self-defence.

Hughes, a carpet salesman, later twice called police, on the last occasion saying that he had tried to kill her.

He pleaded guilty to attempted murder when he appeared via videolink at the Old Bailey today.

Judge Gerald Gordon adjourned sentencing until August 21 for reports to assess his dangerousness.

He said: "The circumstances here are extremely unusual in the sense that the events came out of the blue."

In 1999, Hughes was given a 78-month prison sentence at Mold Crown Court for raping a stranger.