A RAPIST who attacked two Wearside schoolgirls only to later be trapped by DNA evidence will make another attempt to overturn his conviction today.

Father-of-17 Colin Jacklin is due to appear before London's Court of Appeal, six months after his first appeal was thrown out.

He was handed a double life sentence last year for indecently assaulting a 13-year-old and raping a 15-year-old, and for attacking a Nottingham barmaid.

Newcastle Crown Court was told the former painter and decorator grabbed the schoolgirls as they walked across a footbridge over the A1231 Sunderland Highway, in Washington, before dragging them to a quiet spot and attacking them.

He was caught ten years later when a routine mouth swab, taken after Jacklin, 51, was arrested for driving while disqualified, matched samples taken from the girls.

He denied a charge of indecent assault and two rape charges, claiming his twin brother, whom he was separated from at birth, was responsible for the attacks