Man, 64, guilty of alley rape of woman in her 20s

A 64-year-old man has been found guilty of raping a woman in her 20s in an alleyway in 2024, after being charged with the offence two years later.

Dorset police officers found the woman on Weymouth seafront shortly after 22:30 GMT on Sunday 18 February, Winchester Crown Court heard.

She told them she had been raped about an hour beforehand in the passage between Stanley Street, Derby Street and Queen Street.

Russell Tudor Jones, of Corporation Road, Weymouth, will be sentenced on 16 December.

The woman, who described herself as a "pill-taker", was on a night out with friends, the court was told.

She drank six beers and three vodka shots before finding herself alone in a bar, the jury heard.

The victim asked a customer if he knew anyone who could get pills for her, the court heard.

Another man - the defendant - offered to help and took her to the alleyway, but forced her to the ground and raped her, she said.

"I literally just froze and... went into flight mode," she later told detectives.

Giving evidence, Jones told the court the woman approached him and offered sex.

He said he took her to the alleyway instead of his home because he was "struggling with his stoma bag".

The defendant has previous convictions for criminal damage and assaults on police officers and others, the court was told.

He was convicted by a jury after a week-long trial.