A WOMAN who was beaten and raped by a stranger 16 years ago branded her attacker a monster last night as she spoke for the first time about her ordeal.

The woman, now a married mother in her early forties and who cannot be named, said she still bears the mental scars from the attack - but she had been determined to see rapist Andrew Russell brought to justice.

Amid fears he might have attacked other women in the years after the rape, in December 1989, she encouraged victims to go to the police.

She said: "Do come forward. If victims know he is a convicted rapist, they will realise it is not their fault.

"They might harbour feelings, but if they know he is now a convicted rapist, they might stop beating themselves up."

The woman decided to speak out after Russell, 31, was jailed for eight years at Teesside Crown Court three weeks ago.

He had denied carrying out the rape, when he was aged 16, in the stairwell of a car park in Castlegate, near the Swallow Hotel, Stockton, but was convicted by a jury.

DNA evidence linking him to the crime was discovered after the case was reopened last year under a Home Office initiative.

It emerged after the trial that a rape allegation had been made against him while he was in the Army, in Colchester, Essex, but it never came to court.

Russell, who left Stockton shortly after the rape, travelled the world with the Armed Forces before he was kicked out and jailed in 1998 for an attack on a fellow soldier.

The rape victim said: "He took the opportunity to kick, beat, humiliate, degrade and terrify me. The physical scars have disappeared, but the mental ones that were inflicted stay with me to this day.

"I would urge women to report rape, no matter how traumatic - and to preserve DNA evidence.

"Monsters like Russell need to be brought to justice and made to pay for their crimes - no matter how long ago they happened."

The victim praised the work of police and her family, who have supported her, but criticised the courts

She said: "Under the current system, Russell had nothing to prove. The burden of proof is on the prosecution.

"As a victim, I felt I was not important in the justice system. Like many victims, I felt let down and was left angry, frustrated and disappointed.

"The emphasis, it seems, is on winning, and the victim comes second to the accused."

She said she had kept a journal about her experience and hoped one day to be able to publish it to help other rape victims.