A homeless man in his late teens led a much younger person into woodland on Durham riverbanks and carried out a rape attack on them, a court heard.

Mark Barclay, who had previously occasionally met the victim on a bus, by chance, went for a walk with them on the riverbank footpath, on May 4.

Durham Crown Court was told that at one point Barclay began to touch the younger person under the clothing, then took them further into a wooded area and stripped them, saying: “It won’t be long.”

Barclay carried out the rape and left, while the distressed victim was found later by members of the public outside the Tesco store in North Road, Durham, shortly after 9pm.

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The victim was able to give a description of Barclay, believing him to be called, “Mark”, and provided a photograph of him taken after the event.

Anne Richardson, prosecuting, said the defendant, who was known to be living homeless in Durham, was arrested the following day.

He gave police a prepared statement denying any physical contact with the complainant, but subsequent DNA evidence found on the victim’s under-clothing, which matched the defendant’s profile, proved his undoing.

When the scientific evidence was put to him he made no comment.

But, at a subsequent hearing, he admitted a charge of rape.

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The court heard he also had to answer for three counts of possession of indecent images of children and one of possession of extreme pornography, found on computer equipment at his former home in West Rainton.

Barclay, of no fixed address, who turned 20 earlier this month, made late admissions to the images offences, after the rape accusation surfaced.

Miss Richardson said the allegations relating to the indecent material date back more than two years.

She said when police called at the property, Barclay ripped out cables from the devices and tried to hide them down a zip-up top, saying: “If people are going to accuse me of watching that stuff, I’m going to trash my computer.”

Examination of the seized devices revealed 101 indecent images of children, 36 in the most serious category, one of them in video form.

There was also evidence of the use of paedophilic search terms to help access the images.

Duncan McReddie, in mitigation, said a Probation Service report prepared for the sentencing hearing confirmed the defendant suffers with autism, being on the spectrum to a high level.

Mr McReddie said coupled with the fact that he had a difficult childhood upbringing, there was, “ample evidence to restrict sentence to a lower end.”

But Mr McReddie said he had to acknowledge the report findings that the defendant is considered to pose a danger to young girls.

Mr McReddie added, however: “He does not recognise that characterisation.

“He would assert he doesn’t fit that description.”

Recorder Jamie Hill said in the light of the indecent images conviction: “It turns out that those offences were a warning of what might happen and did happen.”

He told Barclay: “It was a terrible thing you did on May 4, preying on someone who vulnerable.”

The Recorder said the defendant then abused the victim, “in an unforgiveable way, deeply traumatising them.”

Recorder Jamie Hill KC agreed with the pre-sentence report author that the defendant poses, “a significant risk of serious harm to children.”

He, therefore, passed an extended determinate sentence, featuring a custodial element of seven years and six months, with three-and-a-half years’ extended licence.

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It means Barclay will have to serve at least five years behind bars before being eligible for release on licence conditions for a minimum of three-and-a-half years.

Recorder Hill also made Barclay subject of a Sexual Harm Prevention Order, forbidding unauthorised contact with anyone aged under 16, “indefinitely”.

Barclay will also have to comply with notification as a sex offender, also to run, “indefinitely.”