THE monster found guilty of raping a woman in Worcester's Gheluvelt Park is starting a life sentence for the "unimaginably vicious" attack.

A judge at Wolverhampton Crown Court ruled Richard Bawden was still a danger to women after reading a series of medical reports, and ordered him to be locked up for life during a hearing on Friday.

The 29-year-old was arrested three days after the horrific attack in August 2000 in which he pinned his victim to the ground near a children's play area and raped her.

Ponytailed Bawden, of Hillside, Kempsey, had drunk three litres of cider before singling out the woman at 11pm on Saturday, August 27, as she walked home from a party, the jury at his trial was told.

Police found traces of his semen on the victim's clothes and were able to match its one-in-a-billion DNA profile with a database of criminals.

An incriminating letter to his girlfriend, in which Bawden confessed he matched a police e-fit of the rapist, finally helped detectives trap him.

After the verdict at Worcester Crown Court in May, the jury heard that, among 62 previous offences, Bawden had sexually assaulted a seven-year-old girl and exposed himself to women on the Malvern Hills.

Det Sgt Andy Price, of Worcester police, was one of the 20-strong team which helped bring Bawden to justice.

"A very evil man has been given a very long sentence for an unimaginably vicious sexual assault," he said.

Det Sgt Price had been in contact with the victim, who cannot be named for legal reasons, and praised her bravery.

"The strength of the victim since the harrowing attack has been incredible," he said.

"No one can imagine how she feels as she rebuilds her life. She's been incredibly strong, and hopefully she'll be able to draw some strength from the sentence given to her attacker."