A MAN was jailed for life yesterday after admitting raping a teenage girl on waste ground in the middle of the night.

David Bamborough, 38, of Crawford Avenue, Peterlee, County Durham, was given the life sentence, with a minimum of eight years, as he had already been convicted of rape and manslaughter in the past.

Ian Skelt, prosecuting, told Teesside Crown Court that the attack occurred after Bamborough and his victim had gone out after midnight, on December 13 last year, to "bury some tobacco" which he was afraid someone else might find.

He said the teenage girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons, went with him to the ground near a sports field, where he pushed her to the ground and tried to rape her.

Mr Skelt said that, after pushing the girl to the ground, Bamborough told her she could either "do it the easy way or the hard way" and told her he was going to kill her."

Bamborough admitted the charge of rape.

Mr Skelt said Bamborough was jailed for five years in 1988 after raping a teenage girl, and served five-and-a-half years for manslaughter.

Stephen Ashurst, for Bamborough, said: "His crimes are coming back to haunt him - he has been having nightmares."

Bamborough was placed on the sex offenders' register for life.