An Orpington man has been convicted of punching and strangling a woman after she told him she didn't fancy him.

After a four day trial at Croydon Crown Court, a jury found Matthew Ashley guilty of causing grievous bodily harm to the woman.

Ashley, 51, and the woman had gone for a day at the beach at Camber Sands on August 7, 2022 but there had been a "frosty atmosphere" on the return journey, Prosecutor Richard Paton-Philip said.

The woman therefore decided to leave to see a friend but that evening Ashley sent her messages asking her to come back to his house on Batchwood Green and she agreed.

“There was a conversation which moved into talking about him wanting a relationship with her,” Mr Paton-Philip said. 

“She was very clear that was not what she wanted. She said she didn’t want a relationship with him, and she did not fancy him at all.” 

The victim tried to "humour" Ashley, while insisting she wasn't interested in a relationship, but after growing tired of his attempts to convince her she went to leave, Mr Paton-Philip said.

As she tried to leave Ashley launched a "concerted attack" on her, raining down blows with his fists, telling her to "shut up" as she screamed and at one point strangling her, the court heard.

After the attack had ended Ashley sent the victim to a bedroom where she passed out.

The next morning she woke in a blood-covered bed and could hear Ashley in the room next door.

She made her escape and hobbled out into the street where she was helped by members of the public who phone the police, the court heard.

The jury was shown harrowing police body-cam footage of the woman in the street, clearly in a distressed state in the street with visible injuries.

She fractured her eye socket, ribs and her foot during the course of the attack, Mr Paton-Philip told the jury.

Ashley denied the charge, but a jury found him guilty at trial.

He will be sentenced in June.