AN "evil" fiend who preyed on a teenage girl, subjecting her to sexual abuse of almost every form, is today behind bars.

Ex-security worker, 37-year-old Michael Dibble - 6ft 2in and weighing nearly 20 stone - raped and sexually assaulted the teenager - and beat her when she tried to escape.

Yesterday at Cardiff crown court, Judge Mervyn Hughes paid tribute to the petite teenager for having the courage to testify. The case was one of the first in the area where an adult victim of sexual abuse gave evidence via a video link.

Telling Dibble (pictured) he was "sordid and evil", the judge jailed him for 10 years. Afterwards his victim told the Argus she would urge other victims of sexual assault to come forward.

"No matter how hard it is to complain, it is better in the long run. These few months have been nothing compared to what I was going through before," she said.

Dibble, of Chestnut Green, Cwmbran, was found guilty of a total of 17 charges including four of rape, one of attempted rape, plus further charges of indecent assault and committing acts of gross indecency.

The judge told him: "Your conduct included almost every form of sexual abuse. "There was also a degree of planning which enabled you to be undetected. This court has no sympathy for you", saying because Dibble denied the charges the girl had to relive what happened - "a harrowing experience".

On release, Dibble must register as a sex offender for the rest of his life. During the trial prosecutor Ieuan Bennett had told the court: "It was a course of physical assault rather than a catalogue of indecency."

Dibble denied the allegations and told the court they were totally fabricated. Defence counsel Huw Wallace said, in mitigation, it was accepted the victim was affected by the experiences, that there had been a degree of planning and that there were sexual indignities. "But effectively he is a man of good character."