A FIRE chief who turned into a rapist was caught by DNA taken after he "flashed" at a woman at an East Lancashire beauty spot, it was revealed today.

George Heyes, 44, is facing life behing bars after he was convicted of a string of sex attacks on teenage girls and young women by a jury at Manchester Crown Court yesterday.

Judge Mr Justice Penry-Davey said he was considering jailing him for life but wanted a psychiatric report to assess how long Heyes would remain a danger to women.

Heyes' reign of terror as a sex attacker had seemingly ended in November, 1997, but detectives had no clues to the identity of the man who had carried out the crimes.

And today it was revealed that if the acting divisonal officer for Greater Manchester Fire Service hadn't been caught flashing at a woman at Entwistle Reservoir, near Darwen, two years later he may never have been apprehended.

Detective Sergeant Chris Hughes, who arrested Heyes in Darwen, said: "Heyes was arrested in Darwen for a relatively minor offence and we took a routine mouth swab.

"The scientists linked his DNA with DNA left at the scene of a sex attack in Manchester. We immediately contacted our colleagues in Greater Manchester to let them know.

"His conviction is a marvellous result for the police and has made the streets a lot safer. This just goes to show the benefits of routine DNA testing.

"People arrested for burglaries, assaults and various other offences are now routinely tested, much as we use fingerprinting. This conviction proves the benefits of this practice."

Heyes confronted TV director Joanne Nelson in December, 1999, as she walked her dog round Entwistle Reservoir.

She reacted angrily and chased him, calling the police on her mobile phone. Heyes was caught by Strawberry Duck pub landlord Keith Graham and detained until police arrived.

Today Joanne, who works as an assistant director for Brookside and lives in Bolton, said: "I feel sick to the stomach thinking about it.

"He's sick and dangerous. I'm just glad that he's been caught now because I dread to think what could have happened in the future."

"It's so tragic for each of his victims because this is something they're going to have to try to live with. I know I would not be able to cope if something like that happened to me.

Joanne had to be pulled away from him when he was caught at the pub and admitted she wanted to slap his face.

She said: "I remember that when he saw me the colour just drained out of his face."

Heyes was later put on probation for 12 months and ordered to pay £330 costs for the offence. He was sacked from his £30,000-a-year job.

But the mouth swab he had given at Darwen Police Station on his arrest led to him being charged with the more serious offences. An expert said the chances of him not being the rapist were one in one billion.

Yesterday Heyes, of Bamburgh Close, Radcliffe, was found guilty by the jury of one charge of rape and two indecent assaults, but was cleared of molesting another teenage girl. He had already admitted another rape and sexually assaulting a fifth girl.

Police believe he may have been targeting women for 13 years.

During that time a man with his description had been seen "flashing" about 100 times around Entwistle Reservoir.

But Heyes had also stalked the streets of Manchester looking for potential victims, raping two terrified women and molesting others.

He disguised his face and covered up his distinctive red hair with hoods before attacking his victims.

Heyes blamed the two attacks he admitted on stress caused by the break-up of his marriage after his wife had an affair.

After the jury's verdict one of his victims, a 22-year-old mother, said she would never forget the evening he raped her as she walked through a park in Wythenshawe.

The girl, only a teenager at the time, said: "I could not believe the person I was reduced to. Before this I had bags of confidence and I had a lot of male friends. I had a boyfriend and was out all the time."