A Hitchin teenager has been convicted of raping three other young people over an eight month period.

The 17-year-old, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was found guilty of six counts of rape and assault occasioning actual bodily harm at Luton Crown Court today.

Aged 15 at the time, he raped a boy of the same age in a park in Hitchin, a 13-year-old girl in his bedroom and an 18-year-old girl at a playing field in Luton.

The jury heard the offences happened over the course of 2019. The first victim was a 15-year-old boy who met up with the defendant on February 28 in King George V playing fields in Hitchin.

On August 29, 2019 he was visited at his home in Hitchin by a 13-year old-girl. She fell asleep and woke to find the defendant on top of her raping her.

Then on October 6, 2019, he met an 18-year-old girl in Luton and raped her twice, stopping when he took a call on his phone from his mother.

The youth was remanded in custody by Judge Richard Foster. He will be sentenced on October 1.