A MAN has started a 12-year jail sentence for the brutal rape of a Leigh schoolgirl, aged 12.

Raymond Horrocks, aged 22, forced the girl to lie down in a field, then violently raped and abused her after ordering her 11-year-old friend to stand and watch.

He was about to rape her friend when they managed to break free and run for help, Bolton Crown Court was told.

But it was due to the courage shown by both girls that evil Horrocks is today behind bars.

They helped detectives to compile a computer image of him before his family spotted the similarity during a media witness appeal and took him to the police.

Today the parents of the 12-year-old girl spoke of their anguish and told how vile Horrocks had ruined their "bright and happy" daughter's life.

Her 35-year-old father said: "I have no opinion of Horrocks at all. You cannot get lower in society than him. My daughter does not like to go anywhere on her own now."

Detectives also paid tribute to the girls' courage.

Det Sgt Brian Langrish, who led the manhunt, said: "It must have been a terrifying ordeal for them, but they were extremely brave throughout. It was as a result of their accurate description that this man was brought to justice."

The friends -- from the Westleigh area of Leigh -- were playing in a secluded field near Smallbrook Lane in Westhoughton when Horrocks pounced on Sunday, July 14 last year.

They spotted him hiding in a bush before he talked to them, chased them, then grabbed them, Bolton Crown Court heard on Friday. The court was told that "they could not escape his gaze."

Tim Storrie, QC, prosecuting, said: "She screamed and Horrocks told her if she continued to scream he would kill her. As she screamed, he raped her."

He threatened to kill the terrified girl and was about to rape her friend when they fled, the court heard.

Horrocks, a trained joiner from Hindley, also told them that he knew where they lived.

The girls managed to stop a passer-by and raise the alarm, prompting a huge manhunt.

Mr Storrie added: "I am in no doubt that if they had not run off then the other girl would have been subjected to an attack."

Horrocks, who has no previous convictions, was arrested three days later and pleaded guilty to one count of rape at Bolton Crown Court.

The court was told he had a drink and drugs problem and an addiction to gambling.

Wearing a track suit and jumper, he stared straight ahead and showed no emotion as Judge Gillian Ruaux jailed him for 12 years and ordered him to sign the sex offenders register for an "indefinite" period of time.

Judge Ruaux said: "You have pleaded guilty to a most heinous offence. Both these girls were strangers to you and it must have been a terrifying ordeal for them.

"The effect this offence has had on them must be severe. I am concerned about the risk you pose to the public when you are released, to children in particular."