A TEENAGE rapist who attacked a 29-year-old woman at a friend's house has been sentenced to four years detention at Worcester Crown Court.

Judge John Cavell also ordered, on Tuesday, that the 16-year-old, who cannot be named because of legal reasons, must register as a sex offender for life.

The youth was found guilty after a trial in December of rape, assault by penetration and false imprisonment.

The court heard that the woman, who suffered from learning problems, had been attacked when she was staying with a single mother in Evesham on July 31.

She had been bullied by the youth who used a piece of wood to imprison her in a toilet where she was held down and raped on the floor. She claimed the youth threatened to slit her throat if she called for help.

Nicolas Cartwright, defending, said the youth was immature and was said by the probation service to be a low risk of re-offending. He submitted that there had been high jinks and horseplay going on at the house.

He conceded that the victim was a vulnerable person easily led but there appeared to be no emotional consequences.

The youth had been bailed with a tag while awaiting sentence and a daily curfew of 9am to 5pm had virtually imprisoned him in his own home.

But the judge said the events at the house showed there had been bullying or very serious teasing of the naive woman. The youth had admitted pouring beer into her bath and had then decided to "try his luck" sexually.

The woman's distress was obvious at work the next day. If the youth had been an adult found guilty of such conduct, the sentence would have been in the region of seven years.