Joe Street was convicted of rape at Maidstone Crown Court

by Julia Roberts

A sex beast has today been found guilty by a jury in less than 15 minutes of raping an elderly woman.

Joe Street, 20, had drunk 13 cans of lager when he attacked the pensioner in Gravesend in June.

Jurors at Maidstone Crown Court heard he slapped the woman as she tried to fight him off. He also told her he had been in prison for a year and "hadn't had any".

The woman, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, later told police she realised she had no choice but to stop struggling with him.

In a video interview played to the jury, she said: "I tried to push him away and tried to grab his face and he slapped me on the head and said: 'No.'

"I thought, 'back off'. I didn't want to get a good hiding because he was a big fella and could knock me for six.

"All I could do was just let it happen. I feel awful but I didn't know what else to do."

"all i could do was just let it happen. i feel awful but i didn't know what else to do..." – joe street's elderly victim

Street, who upon his release from prison had been bailed to live with a relative in Chatham, denied rape and chose not to give evidence.

However, it was claimed by his legal team that he was drunk and could not recall the incident.

The jury of nine men and three women were sent out by Judge Jeremy Carey to consider their verdict at 11.24am today. They had returned to the courtroom by 11.39am.

Sentencing of Street, who has a string of previous convictions but none of a sexual nature, was adjourned until December 21 for psychiatric reports.

The court heard the pensioner noticed Street exposing his genitals and "playing with himself". Having been pushed downwards, the woman said she was made to take off her right trouser leg.

She recalled Street then removed her trousers completely "so he could do it better".

At the end of her ordeal, which lasted two to three minutes, she recalled Street telling her: "It'll be all right". He then fled and the woman phoned the police.

A recording of her distressed 999 call was played to the jury and she told police that before he left, Street had searched through her cardigan pockets as if looking for a phone.

A DNA profile that matched Street was later found on the woman. The chances of it belonging to anyone else were said to be one-in-a-billion, the court heard.

The woman also suffered injuries including cuts or tears to her genital area and a bruise to her inner left knee.

She denied during cross-examination that she had consented, or given the impression that she was consenting, to having sex with Street.

Street, who was 19 at the time, was arrested and when interviewed made no comment to the "overwhelming majority" of the questions, said prosecutor Mark Cotter.

However, when told it had been alleged he had been touching himself before raping the pensioner, he replied: "That's disgusting. This interview is disgusting."

At the end of the trial, Judge Carey described Street's victim as "remarkable".

"Anyone listening to her evidence would have been wholly impressed by the way she gave it, and the absence of anger and her composure were just remarkable," he said.

"That is the view not just of the court but I am sure everyone involved in this case."

He added that it would not be suitable under the circumstances to award her a public commendation, but stressed "an appropriate message of admiration" should go to her.

The prosecutor himself said she had shown "an extraordinary level of stoicism".