A BURGLAR who raped an 87-year-old wheelchair-bound widow in her bed was finally behind bars last night - 14 years after the attack.

The victim's family told for the first time of their trauma after watching rapist David Grady being sentenced to 12 years.

Grady taunted grandmother Jean Strathern as she attempted to fight him off, telling the terrified pensioner: "I will master you, I am David, don't forget it."

Mrs Stathern pleaded with Grady to take anything he wanted from her bungalow in Redcar.

But Grady replied: "I don't want your bungalow, I want you."

Mrs Stathern died four years after the 1989 attack. She never returned home and mistrusted all men, including her own male relatives, until she died in 1993.

Police finally caught Grady, of Wheatacre Close, Marske, near Redcar, when he was stopped for drink-driving, and DNA tests linked him to traces of blood in a burglary in Saltburn. Detectives then discovered his DNA matched that of the rapist.

Further investigations revealed that Grady had also smashed his way into the home of a 77-year-old woman in 1995. On that occasion, high on drink and drugs, he pulled back the woman's bedclothes but the victim's policeman son came to the rescue.

Grady, 33, pleaded guilty at Teesside Crown Court yesterday to rape, intent to rape and three burglaries with intent to steal.

Judge David Bryant told him: "One can only regard your conduct with horror and contempt. Rape is always a very serious offence indeed. It is aggravated where the victim is very young or very old. In this case the victim was a lady in poor health approaching her 88th birthday."

After the case, the family of Mrs Stathern spoke of their trauma.

Son-in-law John Whitehead, who was in court, said his poorly wife was too upset to talk about the ordeal.

But he said : "Satisfaction is the word, just a relief that it's all over at last.

"He's been a nasty piece of work all right. The fact that he attacked other old people tells the story. The only thing we can say is that at least he pleaded guilty, at least we didn't have to go through the whole terrible thing again and again. This has been awful for the family as you can imagine. It has been a terrible trauma."

Detective Superintendent Tom Stoddart, of Redcar CID, said he had never dealt with such an horrific attack on a pensioner.

"One thing that helped us this time was the original investigation," he said. "We had more than 300 potential witnesses and 300-odd potential suspects, which shows how thorough the original investigation had been.

"It is very satisfying for all that work to end with justice being done. This sends a message that Cleveland Police do not give up. We will review cases until the culprit is caught. It was good to see the judge reflect with his sentence the outright revulsion felt by the people of Cleveland to this case.

"It was also especially satisfying for the family. At last they can put this terrible part of their lives to an end."