GUILTY

A judge described the actions of the Lowton 15-year-old, who collects knives, as "cool, calculated and almost chilling" and adjourned sentence so a full psychiatric report can be prepared.

A jury convicted the boy, who was 14 at the time of the terrifying late night attack, by a majority of 10 to two following five hours deliberations.

"It is quite clear a full assessment is necessary including an assessment of risk," said Judge David Swift.

"The impression he gave in the witness box was cool, calculated and almost chilling. An impression which was of great concern to me," he said.

The boy, who sat with his father on the back row of counsels benches behind his legal team, showed no emotion when the verdict was announced.

His father sat with his head bowed, visibly upset.

During the four-day trial, Liverpool Crown Court heard that the boy, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, came up behind the woman as she was walking home in Golborne after a night out.

He had the lower part of his face covered, brandished a penknife with a three-inch blade and told her not to scream.

He then took her to bushes near a playing field close to Thirlmere Road and raped her.

She was so afraid that she kept her eyes shut during the ordeal but police tracked him down and when they went to his home in Lowton, they found a bandana and a collection of knives, including three similar to the one used in the attack.

He initially denied having sex with the woman but when confronted by police with conclusive DNA evidence, he changed his story and said she had consented to have sex with him.

The boy told the court that the woman, who was a stranger, came up to him while he was sitting on a wall drinking and after sharing a drink with him took him to the secluded area and initiated sex with him.

His version of events was described as an "adolescent fantasy" by Andrew Long, prosecuting.

The boy, who had been on bail, was remanded to a Young Offenders Institute, until November 3 while a psychiatric assessment is made.

A date for his sentence will be fixed at that hearing.