Au pair's rapist jailed

A rapist who attacked an au pair outside a church 14 years ago was jailed for eight years today.

Under the cover of darkness mini-cab driver Nick Keall, 41, pounced on the 21-year-old woman from behind before dragging her into the grounds of a church in north London and raping her in May 1989.

The father-of-three, of Carpenter Gardens, Winchmore Hill, north London, choked his struggling victim as he attacked her in an alleyway and then punched her repeatedly, Wood Green Crown Court was told.

The attack ruined her life and plunged her into a depression which culminated in a violent nervous breakdown in January 1995.

Now the victim, a 35-year-old financial assistant in Belgium, fears that every man is a potential attacker.

She sat in court as Keall was sentenced to eight years for rape and 12 months to run concurrently for assault occasioning actual bodily harm. He was convicted after a week-long trial in July.

Keall was caught by detectives in the Metropolitan Police's Cold Case Review team, a dedicated unit which investigates stranger rapes which occurred several years ago.

Keall was charged because his DNA, taken after he was arrested for an assault in December 2001, matched the DNA profile taken from the rape crime scene.

Keall's daughter collapsed in tears into her mother's arms as the sentence was passed.

Before being led away to the cells Keall shouted from the dock: "May I just say I maintain my innocence. I did not do that. F*** you."