An Eritrean man who raped a pensioner outside a church has been seen for the first time today.
Bruke Desalagne, 33, dragged the victim off a bank before taking him behind a billboard St John’s church in Harrow, north-west Londonand raped him on a grassy edge.
He continued the horrific attack twenty minutes earlier a witness saw the incident from her window and called the police.
CCTV footage showed cars and a double-decker bus passing near where Desalagne attacked the pensioner around midnight on July 23 last year.
The suspect, who used an interpreter during the trial, told police in an interview that he had tried to help the victim, who was drunk and cannot be named for legal reasons.
But after Desalagne was shown the footage from a city camera, he stopped the interview, spoke to his attorney and declined to speak further or testify at the trial.
Desalagne had moved the man from a bench to the lawn outside the building to carry out the attack before officers arrived and found him behind the church sign while the victim remained lying behind it.
Bruke Desalange, 33, dragged his victim from the bench where he had been sitting before taking him behind a fence and raping him on a grass verge
St John’s Church in Harrow, north-west London, where Desalagne attacked the pensioner around midnight on July 23 last year
Simon Shannon, prosecuting, told Harrow Crown Court: ‘The defendant can be seen dragging the heavily intoxicated victim off the sofa where he was sitting and dragging him onto the lawn.’
He said the footage showed Desalagne interrupting the attack whenever a member of the public walked nearby.
Bibi Ihuomah, defending, said there was no evidence the pensioner had been raped and told jurors not to react in a knee-jerk manner.
The defendant, who was found guilty by a jury, remained emotionless during the trial and drank water as the footage played.
Detective Inspector Luke Revill said Desalagne was a ‘dangerous offender’ who ‘targeted a defenceless, vulnerable, elderly man’.
‘Thanks to the public who alerted the police, he was arrested on the spot, charged the next day and remanded in custody by the court. We are committed to bringing sexual predators like Desalagne to justice.
‘We would urge anyone who has been the victim of a similar crime to contact police. You will be supported and heard by officers.’
