A 15-year-old rapist from Tooting who forced a young waitress to perform a sex act on him was jailed indefinitely this morning at Inner London Crown Court.

The teenager, who cannot be named for legal reasons, beat up the woman and threatened to kill her unless she met his demands in the early hours of May 15 last year.

Later, when he was arrested, he denied the rape and claimed she had approached him and pestered him for sex.

Sentencing, Judge Mervyn Roberts said: "The rape and assault were particularly nasty offences.

"You approached a young woman on the street, where you conducted a sustained attack.

"It’s of remarkable credit to her that she has been able, to an extent, to put it behind her."

The woman, in her 20s, went out for a drink with a friend after work before taking a night bus to Tooting Broadway underground station at about 3.30am.

In Southcroft Road, she heard someone close behind her say, "baby, baby, come here", before the youth - 14 at the time - grabbed her and pulled her into a garden.

After a struggle, he punched her in the face and told her to shut up, threatening to kill her before forcing her to perform the act.

Eventually, she broke free and ran home, later alerting the police, who were able to take samples of his DNA from her jacket.

Several weeks later a match was found.

In mitigation his lawyer, Michael Stradling, said the youth was still traumatised after being wrongly accused of rape when he was just 11 years old.

The youth was acquitted and taken into care.

Mr Stradling added: "It cannot be overstated, the trauma of an 11-year-old who was not guilty to be taken through the court system and to suffer a trial."

The defendant changed his plea to guilty at the last minute for raping the waitress and assaulting her occasioning actual bodily harm (ABH).

Judge Roberts rejected the Wandsworth Guardian’s request to name the youth, who is protected by the courts because of his age.

With his mother sitting in the public gallery, he showed no emotion as he was told to serve a minimum of 21 months in jail, with no prospect of release until he is no longer deemed a threat to the public.

Speaking outside the court Detective Chief Inspector Mark Cranwell, from the SCD2 unit at Wandsworth Police, praised the victim’s bravery for helping police catch her attacker.

He said: "I really want to commend her for her courage in going forward up until the day of the trial.

"The defendant is a dangerous boy, which has been reflected in the sentence passed by the judge.

"I’d like to thank the Sapphire Unit, as it was known, for a thorough investigation leading to his conviction."