An Eritrean man (no public images of the rapist made available) raped a male pensioner outside a church while traffic and pedestrians passed nearby unaware.

Bruke Desalagne, 33, dragged an elderly man behind a hoarding at St John’s Church in Harrow, north London, in an attempt to conceal his actions.

But a witness saw some of the 20-minute assault from her window and phoned the police.

A jury at Harrow Crown Court found Desalagne guilty of rape after viewing CCTV of the prolonged attack, which also showed cars and a double-decker London bus passing close to the scene. He will be sentenced in the autumn.

The assault – which happened on a grass verge outside the church at around midnight on July 23 last year – was also partially captured by a witness on her phone, and she later handed this to police.

Desalagne, who used an interpreter throughout proceedings, initially said he had been trying to help his inebriated victim, who cannot be identified for legal reasons.

Ugochukwu Ilodigew