Man convicted of bath girl rape

Voisey has a previous conviction for sexually assaulting a child

A man has been convicted of abducting a six-year-old girl from her bath and raping her.

Peter Voisey snatched the girl from the ground-floor bathroom of her home in Willington Quay, North Tyneside.

He drove her round the area, repeatedly sexually abused her, then abandoned her naked and screaming in an alleyway last December, Newcastle Crown Court heard.

Voisey, 35, of Blyth, has been warned by the judge he could face life in jail when he is sentenced on 1 December.

He was found guilty on Friday of abduction, rape and sexual assault.

It's every mother's nightmare to think your children aren't safe in their home Victim's mother

Voisey - also known as Smith - of Renwick Road, was told by Judge David Hodson he would receive a life or indefinite sentence in order to protect the public.

After grabbing the girl from her bath, he put his hand over her mouth and told her that if she made a noise she would not see her family again.

He repeated the threat as he carried out the attacks.

Following the conviction, the girl's mother said: "My little girl was in the bath in her own home within earshot of everyone else in the flat, the back door was shut and I'd only just left the bathroom to go to another room when she was snatched.

Case was huge challenge

"It's every mother's nightmare to think your children aren't safe in their home.

"You wouldn't think you would have to lock all your doors this early in the evening to protect your children from anyone entering your home uninvited."

During the three-week trial, the jury heard how Voisey had a previous conviction for molesting a 12-year-old girl in the changing rooms of a leisure centre in Macclesfield, Cheshire, in July 2001.

The court was shown a footprint recovered from the bathroom by forensic investigators, which matched a pair of trainers he owned.

Police found charred remnants of clothing which he had burnt in his back garden and also recovered his diary in which the entry for December 27 read: "Phew, it's over. Chill now."

Det Ch Insp Jim Napier, who led the investigation, said: "As the evidence built up against him we became more and more convinced that he had committed this crime, which I can only describe as horrific.

Police faced scepticism

"He was a total stranger to this family, he violated their home, he kidnapped a little girl to satisfy his own perverted desires and he has shown neither guilt nor remorse.

"Today's conviction should ensure that he is not in a position to harm anyone else for many years to come."

The high-profile investigation was one of the most challenging the Northumbria police force had faced in recent years, according to senior officers.