A man broke into a teenager’s bedroom to sexually assault her and then told her she should get her window fixed, a court heard.

Tewolde Selassie, 29, was yesterday found guilty in the Supreme Court of burglary and serious sexual assault.

The court heard he threw bed covers over the teenager’s face in an attempt to conceal his identity but was caught by DNA evidence.

Selassie, 29, had threatened to kill the girl if she made any noise during the ordeal, claiming he had a knife.

The 15-year-old, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was attacked in her home on January 19, 2005. The court heard Selassie used a chair outside her window to climb into her room and removed an air conditioning unit in the process.

The girl went to bed at around 10.30 p.m. and was woken up by someone throwing the covers over her head. She was then pulled onto the floor face down and anally assaulted.

Judge Carlisle Greaves told the court: “She said he told her he had a knife and was going to kill her.

“She felt she could not breathe and she was going to die. Every time she was going to move he would prevent her, putting his hands over her mouth and nose. “She tried to fight him. She had never had sex before. She didn’t know his voice but it sounded like a man, not a boy.

“The incident lasted for about ten to 15 minutes. She never saw who he was because the covers were over her face the entire time. Eventually he got off her and she could hear a belt being buckled.

“He told her that if she screamed or called anyone he would kill her. He told her she ought to get her window fixed.

“She said she waited on the floor until he left.”

Selassie escaped through the open sash window but was identified by semen on a swab taken from the teenager.

During the trial, senior Crown counsel Paula Tyndale told the jury the DNA matched that of a blood sample taken from the defendant.

The court also heard from Tricia Saul, a DNA analyst with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. She said databases for the black population of Canada and the US showed only one person in 100 billion would have such a DNA profile, indicating Bermuda would be no different. The chance of someone having the same DNA profile was “very rare”.

Defence lawyer Elizabeth Christopher however, argued such statistics were “irrelevant” and could not be applied because of closer family ties on Bermuda, meaning DNA was more closely matched.

Ms Christopher also pointed to a one digit error in the noting down of the blood sample reference number on forensics’ paperwork.

However, specialists told the court that the sample was kept in a tamper-proof bag.

Selassie did not take the witness stand in his defence and yesterday the jury delivered a majority 11-one guilty verdict on both counts, following two-and-a-half hours of deliberation.

Selassie was remanded in custody and will be sentenced this afternoon.