A SEX attacker who stalked a teenager as she walked home alone from a nightclub has been locked up for five years.

Mark Waterfield was told by a judge that he had “terrified and traumatised” the 18-yearold.

Judge Tony Briggs described Waterfield’s 4.15am attack in Middlesbrough last May as “determined and premeditated”.

The 39-year-old struck as the teenager was walking home from the Arena nightclub, riding up to her on his mountain bike.

He asked her why she was alone and she tried to put Waterfield off by telling him she was with a couple further up the road.

But Teesside Crown Court heard that the stalker waited to see if she spoke to the others, and when she did not circled back and attacked.

The court heard that he took her bag and shoes, grabbed her, turned her face to face with him and made sexual remarks to her.

He held the girl and started touching her under her clothing, Paul Newcombe, prosecuting, told the court.

Waterfield fled only when a passing taxi driver, Naveed Akram, stopped to see what was happening.

Mr Akram, 29, a father-of-three, was awarded a £250 reward from public funds by Judge Briggs for his actions.

Speaking after the case, Mr Akram said: “At the end of the day, if I can help someone, I’ll help. Why turn a blind eye? It could happen to anyone.”

He added: “I got out and she was crying. She was in quite a state. She couldn’t speak. She was shaking and shivering.

“I took her to her doorstep.

She went to pay me and I said I didn’t want the money.”

Waterfield, of Kildare Street, Middlesbrough, denied robbery and sexual assault, but was convicted by a jury after a trial last month.

The judge also praised the girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons, for her “very considerable courage and presence of mind”.

He told Waterfield: “Unfortunately for you, she was brave, she was resourceful and she was very observant.”

He added: “I am satisfied that it came to an end only because you were frightened off by the approaching car.”

Waterfield, who had a previous conviction for robbery in 1995, was arrested from an e-fit picture and picked out at an identity procedure.

During his trial, the father-of-two tried to stage an alibi to secure an acquittal, said Mr Newcombe. It was disproved.

Waterfield’s barrister, Brian Russell, said he could offer little in mitigation because his client continued to deny the offences.