A BURY man has been told he will spend at least eight and a half years behind bars after raping and sexually assaulting two teenage girls.

Bolton Crown Court heard how Charles Knowles, aged 60, of Back Broad Street, Bury, carried out a series of rapes on the two young women, one of whom had cerebral palsy, between July 2005 and August 2009.

One of the women, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was just 15 when he first raped her.

The court heard that the offences only came to light after the second woman, who had been drinking and was asleep when assaulted by Knowles, came across a recording of the incident made by her attacker.

Knowles had denied the offences, but following a trial, a jury convicted him of 10 counts of rape, one charge of assault by penetration and one count of sexual assault.

Tina Landale, defending, said Knowles still denies his guilt.

Sentencing Knowles to an indeterminate jail sentence for public protection, Judge Timothy Clayson stated that it would be eight and a half years before he is eligible to apply for parole and he will be placed on the sex offenders’ register for life.

“You have no insight whatsoever into your offending behaviour,” Judge Clayson told him.