A SEX pest who broke into a Droitwich woman's house at midnight to rape her has been jailed for six years.

David Everitt was half-way through a window when the 32-year-old victim confronted him in her pyjamas.

She poked the agricultural worker in his eyes and he backed off, Worcester Crown Court heard.

After the terrifying ordeal she moved away from the area, said Andrew Lockhart, prosecuting.

Everitt, aged 36, of Moat Farm, Stock Green, near Inkberrow, was convicted by a jury of burglary with intent to rape last June.

He denied indecent assault before the trial began.

Bachelor Everitt, who lived with his father, had six previous convictions for indecent exposure.

In 1992 he climbed a ladder at a woman's home, tapped on the window and began masturbating.

Three years later he got into another woman's house when she was asleep. She found him masturbating and touching her but managed to flee.

In 1998 Warwick Crown Court heard how Everitt flew into a rage after spotting a couple making love on a cricket pitch in Alcester and drove his car over them - hitting the man and injuring the woman. He was jailed for 18 months.

The Worcester jury heard Everitt invited his Droitwich victim out after spotting her cutting her hedge. She refused. He told police he developed "a silly little schoolboy crush" on her after his ex-girlfriend ended the relationship.

After about seven pints in a Droitwich pub on March 4, he spied on the victim as she lay asleep in front of the TV, then waited for her to go to bed before breaking in.

During a tussle he groped her and told her he wanted to have sex.

Giving evidence, Everitt said: "I just wanted to look at her. I was very upset about things that had happened before. I panicked and held on to her."

Carol Knotts, defending, said he led an isolated farm life and found it difficult to cope with adult traumas. He formed strong attachments to women but found it hard to deal with rejection.

Miss Knotts said that worry over the fate of his father's beef farm caused him to drink to excess, which in turn led to offending.

Judge Mott ordered Everitt to register as a sex offender for life.

After the case DC Phil Jones, of Worcester police, welcomed the six-year sentence.

"David Everitt is a very dangerous man, who has been sentenced accordingly," he said.