A MAN aged 63 has been jailed for 15 years for raping a teenage girl almost 40 years ago.

Kevin Hawkins, of Aire Valley Road, Keighley, denied the offence but was convicted by a jury at Bradford Crown Court.

Hawkins, who worked for Leeds City Council in waste management until recently, attacked the girl when he was 27 and she was 13.

After he was sentenced by the Recorder of Bradford, Judge Roger Thomas QC, a relative of Hawkins' victim said justice had at last been done.

"Fifteen years is not long enough for the lifetime of hurt he caused. He deserves to die in prison," she said.