A RAPIST who was rescued by police officers as he threatened to throw himself off a railway viaduct was jailed for two-and-a-half years yesterday.

Police, who launched their spotter plane from Teesside Airport when they received a report of the suicide threat at Horden Viaduct, County Durham, did not know about the attack on a Peterlee woman.

Trevor Jones, 44, who is also from the town, told them he had raped her in her home the previous day, said prosecutor Peter Makepeace.

Later, Jones denied that he had made a confession, claiming that the woman was a willing partner, Teesside Crown Court was told.

But, after a three-day trial, the jury found him guilty of raping the 35-year-old, on May 13 last year.

Jones, of Ashton Rise, who shook his head repeatedly at the verdict, was also put on the Sex Offender's Register for five years.