Eritrean man raped pensioner outside church
Eritrean man raped pensioner outside church
Claire FaragherSun, August 16, 2026 at 10:35 AM UTC
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The rapist dragged an elderly man behind a hoarding at St John’s Church in Harrow, north London, in an attempt to conceal his actions
An Eritrean man raped a 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.
But when Desalagne was shown CCTV from a static local authority camera, he paused the interview and, after speaking with his solicitor, declined to speak further, or give any further testimony, even at trial.
The jury took just more than two hours to convict the East African, who had moved the man from a bench to the grassy area outside the church.
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Officers arrived within five minutes of being called to find Desalagne standing beside the church sign, with the victim lying behind it.
Guiding the jury through the CCTV, Simon Shannon, prosecuting, said: “You can see the defendant dragging the heavily intoxicated victim from the bench where he was sitting, and dragged him to the grass area.”
He added that the footage showed the offender pausing his attack whenever a member of the public walked nearby.
Bibi Ihuomah, defending, said that there was no evidence that rape had taken place and suggested that jurors should not have a “knee-jerk” reaction.
Throughout the trial, Desalagne remained emotionless, and sipped water while the footage was played. When the guilty verdict was handed down, he still showed no emotion.
Det Con Luke Revill of the Metropolitan Police said: “Bruke Desalagne is a dangerous offender who targeted a defenceless, vulnerable, elderly man. Thanks to members of the public alerting the police, he was arrested at the scene, charged the following day and remanded by the courts.
“We are committed to bringing sexual predators like Desalagne to justice.
“We would urge anyone who has been the victim of similar offending to get in touch with the police. You will be supported and listened to by officers.”
Source: “AOL Breaking”
