Paul Woodmass 66

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A dog walker who raped a dementia suffering pensioner in her own home in a shocking attack is facing years behind bars.

Married grandfather Paul Woodmass hunted down the elderly stranger after chatting to her while they walked their pets a few weeks earlier.

As police spoke to the vulnerable victim hours later, Woodmass turned up outside her house, refused to give his name to police until he was arrested and was found to be in possession of a packet of condoms. He had denied rape despite his saliva being found inside her underwear.

After jurors at Newcastle Crown Court unanimously convicted the 66-year-old, of Linnel Drive, Lemington, Newcastle, of rape, Assistant Judge Advocate General Andrew Smith said: "It's inevitably going to be a long prison sentence."

The judge called on the probation service to assess Woodmass' dangerousness before he is sentenced in September, adding: "I'm sure he went away and obtained some condoms and came back because he was forensically aware and realised by that stage he could do what he wanted to with that lady. For that reason, I want a risk assessment."

During the trial jurors were told the complainant has dementia, which affects her memory but does not make her delusional. It was just after 3pm one afternoon that the pensioner called her son and said someone had been in her house and raped her.

The son and his wife rushed to her home, where she repeated the claim, saying someone had had sex with her and she didn't want it. Lee Fish, prosecuting, said: "The individual who had been in her house was this defendant, Paul Woodmass. It's possible she had met him while walking her dog, however she didn't know him.

"There can be no doubt he had been in her house because he admitted as much when interviewed by the police. He also chose to return to the area where she lived after the police had been called by her son.

"The prosecution case is this defendant deliberately targeted (her) because of her obvious vulnerability. For reasons that only he can really explain, he chose to go to her home even though he barely knew her.

"The prosecution case is that he had sex with her in her own home when she was not consenting and he couldn't possibly have believed she was. There is no suggestion she consented to sexual activity. Therefore, you may feel one of the crucial issues for you to decide is whether this defendant had sex with her that afternoon."

Jurors were told that earlier that afternoon, Woodmass had gone to a nearby house asking for the victim but he had gone to the wrong address. A neighbour then heard the complainant talking to a man - prosecutors say likely Woodmass - around 1.30pm and between 2pm and 2.30pm another neighbour saw a man with two small dogs walking down the pensioner's driveway. It was just after 3pm that the woman rang her son reporting that she had been raped.

Mr Fish said: "He must have spent at least half an hour in her house, it's possible he was there for longer. Not long after this defendant was seen walking down her drive, she was on the phone saying she had been raped by a strange man in her house.

"She said there had been a man there who left two dogs outside and had sex with her. She told him she didn't want it."

The court heard police arrived at the woman's home around 3.30pm. While she was struggling to recall certain details, she gave some details of what had happened.

Police spoke to neighbours and had identified the man with the two dogs as Woodmass after he was caught on ring doorbell footage. Mr Fish said later that day, police were still with the pensioner when "bizarrely, the defendant came to them". As an officer spoke to the pensioner, they saw Woodmass at the bottom of her driveway.

Mr Fish said: "The police officer ran straight outside, perhaps in disbelief the person they were looking for was at the bottom of the drive. The prosecution's case is the defendant's behaviour was immediately suspicious. He refused to give his name, saying he would only provide information if he was accused of committing a crime, a rather odd thing to say, you may think, members of the jury."

After being arrested, Woodmass said he had gone to the woman's home "to have a cup of tea". When he was searched, he was found to be in possession of a packet of condoms.

Mr Fish said: "He said he had found them in the street. He said he had no use for them because he was an old man. He referred to the complainant as "a bit senile".

The prosecutor said: "The prosecution say you may wish to ask why he returned later with condoms in his pocket and refused to give his name to police if he had just been for a cup of tea."

When interviewed by police, Woodmass denied having sex with her and said he had met her on a dog walk. He said he had taken up her offer of a cup of tea but when he got there, they just chatted.

Mr Fish said it's accepted the victim has memory problems and was inconsistent about where in the house the alleged rape happened. But he added: "There can be no doubt he was in her house, she barely knew him and shortly after he left she reported being raped. Later on, he returned with condoms in his pocket."

He added that Woodmass' saliva was found on the inside of the pensioner's underwear, which "is not consistent with having a cup of tea and giving her a hug".

Jurors were told about a previous incident with another woman Woodmass met while dog walking in 2021. She said they got talking, had a shared interest in music and he offered to share some of his music with her. When he attended her house with a device with some music on it, the woman said he asked her for a hug and she agreed but during the "prolonged" embrace, he kissed her twice on the neck, which she said she was not happy about.

The woman said he then turned up at her home another day out of the blue in a drunken state. She said he told her he had not had sex with his wife for 20 years and that he "needed intimacy". She told him he was making her feel uncomfortable and she believed he was asking for sex. She said he asked for a hug and she closed the door and locked it.

The woman said she got a family member to call him and they left a message telling him to leave her alone and she never saw him again. She reported her concerns to the police.

Woodmass was remanded in custody and will be sentenced on September 26.