As police believe they are closing in on a rapist thanks to sophisticated DNA techniques the victim recalls the terrifying night at Southampton Sports Centre when she thought she might die.

"LAY down or I will kill you."

It was 13 years ago when an evil rapist said those words to a 14-year-old girl and held a knife to her throat - but she remembers them as clear as day.

An innocent teenager, she was off to meet friends at their regular hangout at Southampton Sports Centre, but when they were not there she began making her way to her friend who lived nearby.

As she climbed the steps and walked across the cricket pitch she saw him jump over a fence and start running.

"At first I didn't think anything of it and I just carried on walking. It wasn't until he got really close that I realised I was in trouble," said the girl who has spoken for the first time about her ordeal.

Recalling the terrifying night which had started so innocently, she said: "It was pitch black and it was cold and wet and horrible. He grabbed me and he held a knife to my throat.

Innocence shattered "I just went into robot mode and I did what he wanted me to do. I knew what he wanted. I just lay down.

"I was a young 14, I didn't look my age at all. I was wearing age 10 clothes," said the girl, who is now 28 and has a young son.

"After it happened he got up and said you can get dressed now' and he ran off. It was after he had gone that I noticed he had left his baseball cap on the ground. I remember thinking I can't pick it up, I had to leave it where it is because that's where it had happened."

After the ordeal the girl managed to get dressed and run to her friends house and police were called.

"As soon as she answered the door that's when I broke down completely. I remember crying a lot as I tried to explain what had happened. The rest is pretty much a blur."

"I think in the beginning my friends cried a lot more than I did. Nobody wanted to go out, they didn't want to go back there. It was the place we all hung out but we didn't go again."

Despite her determination to get on with her life, the man who took away her innocence will be a lasting memory.

"I just remember what he said and the fact that there was so much stubble, there was lots but there wasn't much hair. I was not like a normal kid after that. Every time I went out my friends had to come and pick me up. I wouldn't go out on my own."

Thirteen years on, the young mum is still affected - only able to go out and walk to places when she has her baby in his puschair and because she has to.

"I still will not walk alone. I was petrified when I was pregnant that I perhaps wouldn't be able to go out and take him places. It was a big fear and it took a lot to overcome. Now I have to plan my route before I go anywhere."

She added: "I think I coped quite well with what happened. I went to counselling for quite a long time but I took on the attitude of it's not going to beat me'.

"I can't sit there scared for ever, I have to go on. I have my son to think of now and I don't want him to see me scared.

"It's like watching a film of somebody else's life now but I am glad the case has been reopened - I just want him caught. He is out there and he knows who he is. Someone must know something. He may think he has got away scot free but he hasn't."