A 31-year-old man who tricked his way into the flat of an 89-year-old woman by pretending to be a police officer before subjecting the pensioner to a serious sexual assault has been jailed for nine years today.

Mauro Patrice Lopes, who is from the Mabgate area of Leeds, had pleaded guilty to two counts of rape at an earlier hearing and was sentenced today at Leeds Crown Court.

In the early hours of Saturday 14 March this year, Lopes had knocked at the woman's door and said that he was a police officer and urgently needed to speak to her. After being let in to the property Lopes subjected the pensioner to a serious sexual assault.

He was arrested by detectives from West Yorkshire Police's Homicide and Major Enquiry Team later the same day from his home address.

The victim, who was admitted to hospital following the incident, is now being cared for in a residential home.

Detective Superintendent Steve Payne, who led the investigation, said: "I would like to pay my respect to the victim in this case who has acted with incredibly bravery despite the terrifying ordeal she suffered.

"During the incident itself she even managed to scratch Lopes which helped us significantly with the investigation.

"The nine year sentence imposed today reflects the severity of this crime and the fact Lopes abused the trust people have in the police in order to gain access to the victim's home.

"Lopes entered the UK in 2002 and had his DNA taken for a minor offence in 2005 and as such he was placed on the national DNA database which assisted my investigation greatly in bringing this man to justice."

BPP COMMENT: Superintendent Steve Payne mentioned the word "Justice". Is that what the police call this? This animal will be released back into the community in a few years free to rape again. Imagine how that 89-year-old woman would have felt when she was raped by this creature.

No doubt Lopes will get parole unlike Simon Sheppard who has been given a full 5 years just for having a certain political opinion!