A FORMER Wycombe Wanderers footballer who drove his victim out into the countryside before raping her told her 'you'll live', a court has heard. 

Nathan Ashton, 37, has been found guilty of raping two women following a trial at Reading Crown Court. 

The disgraced sportsman, who played for Wycombe Wanderers from 2008 until 2010, raped a woman in the back of his car in 2015 before going on to attack another woman in 2023.

Ashton denied all the allegations against him, insisting that they were fabricated.

However, jurors did not accept his defence, returning a majority verdict on Thursday, May 23, on both charges, following a week-long trial.

The court heard graphic accounts of the former footballer's crimes.

In 2015, he picked a woman up in Reading, and drove her out into the countryside.

There, he ordered her into the back of his car, where he raped her.

After attacking the woman, Ashton told her: “You’ll live.”

While the victim did not report the incident to police for five years, she went to a sexual health clinic a day after the rape, where she divulged what had happened.

Prosecuting barrister Ahmed Hossain KC said: "She had told people at the time of what had happened, but she didn't contact the police in 2015, as she blamed herself and she was afraid of not being believed."

The victim gave evidence from behind a screen on the first day of the trial.

When asked by defence barrister Catherine Purnell why she had not come forward earlier, the woman said: "Because I lived my life long enough keeping his [Ashton's] secret."

The second rape occurred in February 2023. The victim said she had gone to sleep in a friend’s bed. She awoke to find Ashton forcing himself on her. The defendant ignored her repeated demands that he stop. The woman reported the attack to police shortly after it took place.

Ashton will be sentenced over both rapes at a later date.

Ashton, born in Beckton in London in 1987, started his football career in Charlton Athletics' youth team in 2005-06.

He signed for Fulham in August 2007, making his debut in the 3-1 win against Reading in November 2007. He played for Crystal Palace before joining Wycombe Wanderers in July 2008 for a two-year deal. 

In 2016, he was jailed for 15 months after being convicted of conspiracy to rob.