A sex beast who brutally raped a gay woman as she was forced to sleep rough in a in a Maidstone park could be locked up indefinitely for public protection.

James McDonagh, from an Irish travelling community, continued to loudly protest his innocence after a jury returned a unanimous verdict.

The 40-year-old father of eight had to be taken to the cells as he shouted: “I didn’t do it. You are wrong because I wasn’t there. I swear on my children’s life.”

His wife Brigitte, 39, had to be removed from the court as she wailed: “Mother, mother.”

She had backed up her husband’s claim that he was at their home in Walthamstow, east London, when the victim was attacked.

Maidstone Crown Court heard three men pounced on the woman as she lay under a tree in Mote Park in June last year.

Two of the men held her down while McDonagh raped her from behind. He was arrested after his DNA was found on the woman’s underwear.

Prosecutor Sarah Campbell described it as a “violent and nasty rape”.

Afterwards, the woman was shocked and embarrassed and did not report it for several days.

Adjourning sentence until July 2, Judge Martin Joy said McDonagh had been convicted on “compelling and overwhelming evidence”.

He added: “It was clearly a violent rape of an alcoholic lady, who was vulnerable and alone.

“It is quite clear he left his DNA. The nature of the attack is a disturbing feature of the case.”

The judge added if reports showed McDonagh was a danger, there would be an inevitable indeterminate prison sentence.