A rapist who was caught when a routine DNA test linked him to a sex attack on a student nearly 14 years on from the crime will be sentenced today.

When police stop-checked Kevin Stephen in Brighton in August last year, they found he was wanted for failing to appear in court for not providing a roadside breath test.

Stephen, 43, was arrested and a DNA swab from him provided detectives with a match to the unsolved rape of a 22-year-old student in the city nearly 14 years previously.

The case highlights the benefits of DNA testing in fighting crime, which has led to some campaigners calling for a universal database holding everyone's details.

The victim was on her way home from a party in the early hours of May 14, 1995 when she was attacked from behind by Stephen, then aged 29.

During her ordeal, the terrified young woman was forced into his car and driven to an unknown location where she was attacked, leaving her with long-lasting mental scars.

In a witness statement given to police, the victim said: “When I was in the back of his car, all I could think about was my friends who were asleep in bed at home.

“I remember thinking,'This is it for me, I'm not coming back from this'. I thought I was going to die. It was terrifying.

“Another thing that will always stay with me is the memory of having to pick up the phone and tell my parents what had just happened because I knew that phonecall was going to change their lives.

“It was so hard to do. I don't want to be known as the person that that horrific thing happened to. I want to be just me.”

Stephen, also known as Kevin Jennings, of Franklin Road, Brighton, pleaded guilty to rape, kidnap and indecent assault when he appeared at Lewes Crown Court on February 6.

Speaking after he entered his pleas, Det Ch Insp Ian Pollard of Sussex Police said he hoped the victim could now rebuild her life knowing her attacker had been caught.

Mr Pollard said: “I hope now that the victim - who has endured nearly 14 years of not knowing who her attacker was - can find some form of closure and start to finally move on knowing that he is now behind bars.

“My message is clear: people who commit such horrific crimes need to know that these cases are never closed by the police and that they will always be under threat of detection and conviction.”

Stephen, who is in custody, will be sentenced at Hove Crown Court.