After convicting a Christchurch man of a knife-point street rape, a jury has been told of the man's history of criminal offending.

The jury took 2.5 hours to decide Wayne David Batchelor, 42, was guilty on charges of rape, sexual violation, possession of an offensive weapon, and threatening to cause grievous bodily harm.

His criminal history includes a significant jail sentence imposed in 2002 on a charge of threatening to kill and do grievous bodily harm.

Judge Gary MacAskill remanded him in custody until tomorrow to set a sentencing date and call for the necessary pre-sentence reports.

Batchelor had denied the charges relating to a street-rape in St Albans in 2000 when the attacker forced a 22-year-old woman into a driveway at knifepoint, after threatening to cut her throat.

The victim gave evidence that she feared for her life while the offender held the knife to her throat and raped her.

The Crown said Batchelor was identified nine years later when scientists found that his DNA profile matched the attacker.

The defence said the DNA evidence was unreliable and the police had charged the wrong man.

After the verdicts, Judge MacAskill told the jury: "It may give you some comfort to know that Mr Batchelor has a very long record of criminal offending, with convictions for drug offending, dishonesty including burglary, and driving offences."

He had been offending since 1983.

"There is some violence in his record, but nothing of this kind. There is a 2002 offence of threatening to kill or do grievous bodily harm for which he received a significant term of imprisonment," said the judge.

- © Fairfax NZ News