A YOUNG mother today revealed the hell her daughter had been through after being abducted and sexually assaulted as she played close to home.

The woman spoke as pervert Mark Hayhurst faced up to a jail sentence after being found guilty of two attacks in the Bank Top area of Blackburn in August

She said her eight-year-old daughter, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, had been seriously traumatised and had asked every day 'when will that man be taken away'?"

The girl was taken by Hayhurst to a derelict garden where she was assaulted after he asked her to help look for her missing dog.

Hayhurst, 33, was also convicted after a trial at Preston Crown Court of abducting and indecently assaulting another girl age seven from the same area.

The mother said she was relieved at the convictions and hoped her family could make a new start.

But she said her daughter is afraid to play outside the house by herself and refuses to stay in the same room as any men even those she knows.

The mother added: "I am absolutely delighted by the verdict. I hoped it would turn out this way but now we can really start to celebrate.

"This has been a very traumatic time for everyone.

"It has had a devastating effect on my little girl, she won't stay in the same room as any men and she won't even wear the same clothes she was wearing when this happened."

There were cheers from the public gallery as the guilty verdicts were read out by the jury foreman after two-and-a-half hours deliberation yesterday.

Trial judge Andrew Blake postponed sentence for reports until January 18 saying he wanted to assess the risk Hayhurst posed to young girls. But he warned him that the only possible sentence was custody.

Judge Blake also ordered that Hayhurst be placed on the sex offenders resigister.

Outside the court, families of the abducted girls, who cannot be named for legal reasons, welcomed the verdicts.

One mother said: "I hope he rots in hell for what he has put these children through. He is sick. These girls will be affected for the rest of their lives."

During the trial the court heard that Hayhurst, a former security guard at Blackburn College, visited the Bank Top area of Blackburn on two separate dates last August.

Hayhurst of Mansfield Street, Audenshaw, Manchester, who works as an environment manager, denied the charges.

However, the evidence against him was overwhelming. A footprint at the scene of the assaults matched the tread on a pair of trainers found during a police search of Hayhurst's home in Manchester.

And they found a pair of girl's knickers in Hayhurst's work briefcase.

None of the victims or witnesses picked out Hayhurst during an identity parade held five weeks after his arrest on August 10, but the court heard that he had changed his appearance by shaving off both his goatee beard and his hair.

After the verdicts, DS Paul Murphy of Blackburn CID, who led the investigation, said: "This was a particularly sensitive inquiry and the police and the aggrieved families are delighted with the guilty verdicts."

He thanked people for their co-operation during the investigation. Judge Andrew Blake remanded Hayhurst in custody.