A YOUNG man beat and raped a prostitute in Bolton's red light district after she asked him for money, a court heard.

Gary Moore had been drinking heavily after losing his job and met up with the woman as he took a short cut through Shiffnall Street in the town centre in February.

But when the woman demanded money before sex Moore punched her and forced her to have intercourse. He was arrested as he stood at a nearby bus stop after a witness reported him to police.

Moore, aged 20, of Beech Street, Bury, originally denied rape but admitted the offence on the day his trial was due to begin at Bolton Crown Court.

Judge Reginald Lockett said the defendant had spared his victim the ordeal of giving evidence in court, and sentenced him to four and-a-half years in a young offenders' institution

The court heard Baxter and the woman agreed to have sex in nearby River Street but when she demanded money he realised he only had £11 on him.

When she began to raise the alarm Moore punched her in the head and body and forced her to have intercourse.

He left the distressed woman getting dressed and walked to a nearby bus stop to go back home to Bury.

The woman suffered cuts and bruises to her head and body.

Stuart Denney, defending, said Moore had just finished a relationship and was then laid off from his carpet factory job with just a weeks' wages in his hand.

Mr Denney said that when he realised that he did not have enough money he did something that he now bitterly regretted.

Mr Denney said Moore had specifically instructed him to apologise to the woman for what he had done.

Judge Lockett told Moore that if he had not admitted his guilt and had he been found guilty after trial he would have been sentenced to seven or eight years in custody.