Alleged victims of the "Night Stalker" rapist have given harrowing accounts of their attacks from beyond the grave.
Elderly pensioners were left to live out their last years in fear after Delroy Grant embarked on a campaign of terror that was to last 17 years, Woolwich Crown Court heard.
Among a string of statements read out at his trial from alleged victims who have now died, one pensioner told how she did not want to tell her son about the attack because he would be "horrified".
The oldest, an 89-year-old, left a detective in tears and said she regretted reporting the attack to police, the court heard.
As officers began to link a string of attacks, the suspect became known among officers as "Whispering Night Crawler", the court heard.
Several pensioners spoke of their attempts to fight off the attacker who had "creepy eyes", the jury was told.
Grant, a 53-year-old former minicab driver, is accused of preying on elderly women and men across south London, which he denies.
Detective Constable Yvette Daniel said that Grant's alleged first victim, the 89-year-old, was clearly traumatised as doctors inspected her wounds.
The officer said she was personally "upset and concerned" as the old woman tightly held her hand after the horrific attack in Shirley, south London, in 1992.
Grant, of Brockley Mews, Honor Oak, south-east London, denies 29 charges relating to burglaries, attempted burglaries, rapes and indecent assaults against 18 pensioners between October 1992 and November 2009.
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