A CONVICTED sex attacker who has preyed on young women for almost 50 years has been warned he faces a "substantial" prison term after admitting further assaults.

John Cairns, 67, has already served a ten-year sentence after he attempted to rape one woman and tried to strangle another, during street attacks in 1966.

His campaign of terror began in 1953 when he indecently assaulted a woman after he put his hand over her mouth and threatened her, before pulling her to the ground in a public place.

Cairns was due to stand trial yesterday at Newcastle Crown Court on charges of rape, indecent assault and indecency with a child.

But the Crown Prosecution Service accepted his guilty pleas to indecent assault, indecency with a child and unlawful sex with a girl under 13, which carries the maximum penalty of a life sentence.

The court heard how, in the latest attacks, Cairns assaulted two young girls at his bedsit during the 1980s and 1990s.

Prosecutor Robin Patton told the court how one of his victims, aged just seven, thought it was "normal".

Judge David Wood adjourned sentence for reports but warned: "These are serious offences, a substantial prison sentence is the likely outcome of this case."

Cairns, of Winskill Road, South Shields will be sentenced on February 5