A MALVERN has been sentenced to more than 10 years in prison for raping an elderly woman in Upton-on-Severn.

Keith Brown, aged 55 from Blakes Lane, Malvern, was sentenced to 10 years and eight months extended for three years to serve on licence at Worcester Crown Court.

Brown pleaded guilty to the rape on Monday which happened in the early hours of Thursday, August 13. He was also given a restraining order not to contact the victim for life.

Detective Inspector Tony Garner said: "This was a despicable offence on an elderly and defenceless victim.

"Following the report of the incident we mobilised every resource at our disposal from detectives to dogs teams in order to catch a vile sexual predator.

"All those involved in the investigation worked tirelessly to quickly apprehend Brown and in doing so we have prevented further people potentially becoming a victim to him.

“My hope is this conviction and sentence will provide some measure of closure for the victim who is an extremely brave and courageous woman.

"It will also reassure a local community and act as a warning to anyone else considering offending in this manner that West Mercia Police will not rest until you are caught and brought to justice.”