A 29-year-old man who raped a Wirral woman in an alleyway was jailed for ten years today.

Raymond Thompson was convicted after a trial and a judge told him that having observed him, "I have no doubt that there is a domineering and possessive streak to your personality.

"You are a self-centred man with limited insight into the feelings and needs of others."

Liverpool Crown Court heard that Thompson, a call centre worker, knew the woman and bullied her into going into the city centre with him and made it clear he wanted sex with her.

In the early hours of July 14, he took her into an alley by a railway station and said she could not go home until they had had sex.

When she refused, he punched her in the face.

She then submitted to his demands through fear of further violence and afterwards he left her there to make her own way home.

Thompson of Viola Street, Bootle, had been found guilty by a jury of two offences of rape, assault causing actual bodily harm and breaching a restraining order.

He was ordered to sign on the Sex Offenders Register for life.

His barrister, Tom Watson, said that Thompson, who has 26 convictions for 34 offences, has no similar sex offences on his record.

Thompson began to sob as Mr Watson told the court, "He has a daughter and he is distraught at the risk he will never see her again."

He said that he has had various jobs including labouring and gardening and has helped children suffering from obesity.