A RAPE victim who was left for dead at an isolated spot close to a river told last night of her relief after her brutal attacker received an indeterminate prison sentence.

Michael Preston was jailed indefinitely for the protection of the public and will be freed only when officials from the Parole Board consider he is no longer a danger.

Teesside Crown Court judge Michael Taylor told 31-year-old Preston: "You will be assessed to see if it is safe for your release. It may be never, it may be many years."

His traumatised victim revealed that she is still having nightmares and flashback, but said: "Now that he has been sentenced, it stops him from attacking anyone else."

The court heard how Preston had been out of jail for just days when he took the 29-year-old woman to a rail depot close to the River Tees looking for scrap to sell.

He told her he was desperate for sex because he had been in prison and when she rebuffed his advances, he slapped her across the face and tried to pull her trousers off.

Christopher Attwooll, prosecuting, said the victim tried to flee from a disused freight carriage, but was dragged back inside and struck across the face with a metal bar.

She was then raped before Preston battered her again with the weapon - leaving her bleeding and unconscious with fractures to her nose, jaw and cheek and multiple cuts.

Judge Taylor said she had been "humiliated and degraded" by her attacker, and told Preston: "I cannot imagine a more serious set of offences to have to deal with.

"The physical and sexual violence was truly horrifying and it is more by good luck than good management that you are not standing in the dock facing a murder charge."

Preston, of Lizard Walk, Hartlepool, admitted rape, attempted rape and wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm on the woman on March 7 this year.

The court heard that he handed himself in five days after the attack as British Transport Police investigated the horror, but initially denied any involvement in it.

Forensic analysis of his clothing revealed the victim's blood, and despite efforts to set fire to the carriage, bloodstains were discovered and the metal bar was found.

Brian Russell, mitigating, accepted Preston had a poor criminal record for offences such as theft and burglary, but maintained he was not usually a violent man.

He described the attack as "very much a one-off incident" and said despite a 1999 conviction for a knifepoint shop robbery, he should not be considered a danger.

Mr Russell said a letter from Preston's wife showed a different side to his character, and added: "He has shown a degree of remorse and shame for what he has done."

The victim - who praised paramedics, hospital staff and British Transport Police officers afterwards - said: "I am very happy that Preston has been caught.

"I was initially scared to come forward, but now that I have I know I made the right decision and I hope this gives others in similar situations the courage to do so."