A RAPIST was today jailed for five years for a brutal attack in a North-East park almost ten years ago.

Thomas Noble was finally arrested last October after a "cold case review" of the late-night assault.

Scientists discovered a match between evidence from the scene and a sample of DNA taken from Noble almolst 18 months ago.

During the festive period of 2005, police arrested Noble after he remonstrated with children throwing stones at his house.

The 46-year-old was not prosecuted, but his DNA was put on the national database and a match was found when the rape was re-examined.

Noble, from Stockton, admitted rape when he was due to stand trial at Teesside Crown Court last month, and returned today to be sentenced.

Judge Les Spittle also ordered that Noble should sign on the sex offenders' register for life when he is released from prison.

Following the hearing, Detective Superintendent Tony Hutchinson said: "The outcome of this case means the victim can have closure.

"She has spent more than nine years wondering if every man she passes in the street is the one who attacked her.

"She now hopes to put her terrible ordeal behind her and get on with the rest of her life."

Noble struck as the woman - aged 32 at the time - walked through Newham Grange Park in Stockton in the early hours of June 14.

She had been to visit her mother and then her sister before walking home alone.

Full story and an in-depth look at the case in tomorrow's Northern Echo