A FORMER postman who raped a schoolgirl has been jailed for eight years at Worcester Crown Court.

Vincent Laux, of Gibbons Crescent, Stourport-on-Severn, carried out the attack five years ago when he was depressed over a failed marriage.

The victim was molested in a flat in Kidderminster where Laux was living alone.

Judge Patrick Thomas said the grave crime was “unforgiveable and hugely damaging to the child”.

But he pointed out that the girl may have been helped by the jury believing her story in the witness box.

The judge concluded that it was a one-off offence when 45-year-old Laux was at a low ebb and drinking too much.

Laux was convicted of rape by a jury last month at a second trial. At an earlier trial in April, another jury failed to reach a verdict on the rape charge but convicted him of a second count of indecency with a child.

The girl was warned by Laux to keep his behaviour secret but she complained to her mother last year.

Laux recalled during a police interview committing a sex act on himself in front of a child. He denied rape but prosecutor David Iles said he was “an utterly selfish man” who had lied to the jury in a bid to save his own neck.

He said the girl, who suffered nightmares and flashbacks, had given damning detail in the witness box.

Abigail Nixon, defending, claimed there was a lack of medical evidence in a case against a man who had no previous convictions.

The judge made a sexual offences prevention order banning Laux from contact with children under 16 for life.

He must also sign the sex offenders' register for life so police know where he is living.