A ROSSENDALE man who dragged a 14-year-old girl into woodland where he twice tried to rape her, is on the run from police.

Stephen Ainscow, aged 28, was jailed for seven years in 2005 after he abducted and tried to rape a terrified teenager in Waterfoot late at night, pushing his fingers down her throat to keep her quiet.

Ainscow, who lived in Burnley Road East but later moved to Bolton, carried out the attack when his victim was aged just 14 on December 4, 2004.

He was found guilty of two attempted rapes after a week-long trial.

He was released from prison in March after serving four years of his sentence but has gone missing, breaching the terms of his release.

Now his victim, who lives in Darwen, says she is too terrified to step outside her front door because she knows he is on the loose.

“I’m really scared,” said the woman, now aged 20, who cannot be named for legal reasons.

“He is really dangerous. People keep telling me that he’s not allowed to come anywhere near me, but you cannot judge him like a normal person because he’s not.”

Police were yesterday in Bolton speaking to his neighbours and trying to track him down.

A spokesman said: “He is wanted.”

Officers are now appealing for the public to help find Ainscow.

His victim says his release from prison has brought the nightmare back to life.

She said: “I’ve not been out since he got out, but now he is missing and I don’t know what to do.”

The sentencing hearing at Burnley Crown Court heard how the victim had been targeted by Ainscow.

She was drunk, young and vulnerable and easy prey for his “sexual greed”, the court heard.

The girl was rescued after a quick-thinking student, then aged 17, heard her crying out for help and went to alert his stepfather.

The pair found her lying on her back in the mud, half-naked, screaming, crying and in shock.

Ainscow, who had been on an eight-hour drinking session in a nearby pub, was later arrested.

The attack came just two hours after Ainscow was alleged to have sexually assaulted a disabled woman, the jury was told.

Sentencing him, Judge Anthony Russell, QC, said nobody who heard the tape recording of the 999 call or the evidence given by the 17-year-old and his stepfather could doubt the terrible ordeal the victim had been subjected to.

He told Ainscow: “You attacked her body and her dignity. This sort of behaviour will not be tolerated in a decent society.”

He said the defendant had prolonged the girl’s agony by fighting the allegations against him, had no remorse and had shown “callous disregard” for his actions, even smiling when giving evidence.

Police last night appealed for anyone with information about Ainscow to come forward.

Anyone with information is asked to call Lancashire Police on 08451 253545 or Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111.