A SCHOOLBOY has been convicted of raping a woman at knifepoint after she had been on a night out with friends.

The 14-year-old forced his 22-year-old victim into a secluded wood near Thirlmere Road, Leigh, to carry out the terrifying attack.

The boy, from Lowton, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was found guilty at Liverpool Crown Court on Friday.

The woman had been drinking with friends at The Hare and Hounds pub in Golborne Road, Leigh, on June 4, last year, the court was told.

She left the pub after a few hours and began the short walk home.

As she turned into Thirlmere Road shortly after 11.30pm, she glanced behind her and saw a male figure standing at the top of the street.

The woman continued to walk along the road and, a short time later, felt someone put an arm around her shoulder.

As she tried to push the person away, she turned and saw a youth with a knife.

The teenager held the knife to the womans face and told her not to scream.

He then walked her across the road and into a field where she was forced, at knifepoint, to walk along a footpath and into a wooded area.

Once there, he raped the woman and fled. The 14-year-old boy was remanded in custody after being found guilty of rape. A date for a hearing for him to be sentenced is yet to be set.

Afterwards, Det Con Jason Eddison, of Leigh CID, who led the investigation, said: "This was a terrifying ordeal for the victim. She was put in fear for her life whilst being marched at knifepoint into a secluded woodland area.

"Any sexual offence is despicable and an horrific ordeal for the victim. This incident is made even more harrowing by the age of the offender.

"I hope that the victim of this attack takes some comfort from the fact that the youth responsible for this crime has been brought to justice."