A CONVICTED rapist who broke into an 85-year-old woman's home and threatened her with a knife has been jailed for nearly nine years.

When Dean James Robinson was only 17 - nine years ago - he was jailed for raping a young woman in Dove Street, York, forcing her to stay silent by threatening to rape her four-year-old daughter.

Now Robinson has been jailed again after breaking into the home of an 85-year-old woman, threatening to kill her at knifepoint, and ordering her to remove her underwear. She was terrified she would be raped.

Robinson, now 26, formerly of Welham Road, Norton, and previously of York, was convicted of aggravated burglary after a trial at York Crown Court. He was spared a life sentence only because he did not harm his victim, who stood up to him.

A jury at York Crown Court found him guilty of aggravated burglary.

Defending, Nigel Shepherd offered no mitigation.

Judge Jim Spencer told Robinson: "You have committed a most serious offence.

"You knew this woman was old, you knew that she would be alone and you went into her house in the middle of the night in order to steal."

He added: "You threatened her and warned her if she didn't comply she would be dead. You asked her the most appalling questions and you said these things despite her age, and then you made your getaway with her property."

Robinson had lived at addresses in Bridlington, Foxwood, York, and Middlesbrough earlier this year. His parents live in Norton, near Malton, North Yorkshire, and he worked for them from time to time.

He was jailed for eight years for the aggravated burglary. He also pleaded guilty to failing to comply with the sex offender's regulations and a dangerous driving offence, for which he was sentenced to six months and three months, respectively, to run consecutively.

The court heard that Robinson, of Norton, was jailed for seven years in 1996 after raping the woman after breaking into her home.