Leicester park rape: Man found guilty of 'horrific' attack

Doctors said the woman had suffered "shocking" life-changing injuries

A man who left a woman with a fractured skull "for dead" has been found guilty of her rape and attempted murder.

Zakarya Etarghi admitted meeting the 50-year-old woman, who was found in a pool of blood off Cedar Road in the Evington area of Leicester last August.

The 24-year-old, of no fixed address, denied the charges and said the woman had "no injuries" when he left her.

Etarghi was found guilty at Leicester Crown Court on Wednesday and will be sentenced on 25 March.

The victim was found in the park off Cedar Road, Leicester by a police sergeant

The trial had heard the victim was found naked from the waist down in the park at about 05:00 BST on 3 August, 2018.

She was found with a deep head wound, with an ambulance technician telling jurors he believed she had been "left for dead".

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A forensic scientist said DNA traces matching the victim and Etarghi - who the jury were told was on licence from prison after serving a robbery sentence - were found on clothing, beer cans, and a discarded condom wrapper.

Etarghi was arrested after being found by police officers in Stoke-on-Trent two weeks after the attack.

He told the trial he had been to a friend's house and drank 11 pints of beer and took half a gram of cocaine before meeting the victim in the park, and claimed they had "got intimate" once left alone.

Det Insp Mark Sinski, from Leicestershire Police, said the victim was "still recovering" from the "horrific assault".

"There is little doubt that she has only survived due to the early and extensive medical treatment she received," he said.