Davina Ayrton, 34, was convicted of the sexual attack in the autumn of 2004

A transgender rapist will serve eight years prison after sexually attacking a 15-year-old girl.

Davina Ayrton, 34, was convicted of the sexual attack in the autumn of 2004, following a week-long trial at Portsmouth Crown Court in January.

The trial heard that the 34-year-old had met up with the victim and two friends one evening and gone drinking in a garage in Portsmouth which had a sofa and chairs in it.

The victim described how she screamed and shouted at Ayrton, who was 23 at the time, to stop but failed to wake up her friend and her boyfriend who were sleeping nearby.

In a statement read to the court, the victim said: 'I was a young girl when David Ayrton raped me. At the time I didn't trust the police and didn't want to make a statement.

'As the years have passed, I have never forgotten the incident, how he forced himself on me, I was hysterical and I lived in fear all the time.

'I thought I was a real tough cookie but clearly I wasn't.'

She added that she was shocked when police approached her 10 years after the offence saying that Ayrton had confessed to the attack.

The victim said: 'I was initially shocked and all the awful memories came flooding back to me.'

The court heard that Ayrton, who has a son, was convicted of possessing indecent images of children at Bournemouth Crown Court in January 2014, and of arson in 2007.

Sentencing Ayrton and placing her on the sex offenders' register for life, Judge Ian Pearson said: 'The victim was aged 15, she was a vulnerable child absconder from school and absconder from home.

'In the passage of time, the traumatic effects of that night have not lessened with regards to the victim. She has done well with her life, she has recovered to some extent but her victim impact statement shows that the scars and effects will never leave her.'

He continued: 'I do accept your background is a very difficult one, you were the subject of sexual abuse yourself and the cycle continues with you being an abuser.

'I accept you have significant mental health issues and you are agonising over your gender issues and wish to live as a woman albeit no operation has been carried out yet.'

The court heard that Ayrton has learning difficulties and has been living at the Heywood Sumner House care home in Fordingbridge.

Ann-Marie Talbot, defending, said: 'She has fully accepted the offence, accepts the sex wasn't consensual and she has shown remorse for her actions.

'She was messed up from her own childhood sexual abuse and she presented wth a good level of victim empathy, she was sorry for what she had done because she has been victimised sexually herself.'

In January, Ayrton, who has learning difficulties, was remanded into custody for her own safety in a male prison until her sentencing today, because she tried to commit suicide last summer.

At the trial earlier this year, Judge Ian Pearson said: 'I am going to have to remand in custody, if I were to release on bail there are substantial grounds to believe she would be a risk to herself and a risk of failing to attend for whatever reason.

'I will therefore have to remand in custody, it will have to be a male prison in Winchester but it will be an issue for the prison service.'

Thanking the jury, the judge added: 'It's been a slightly unusual case and it's not been an easy case.'

Davina Ayrton, 34, was convicted of the sexual attack in the autumn of 2004, following a week-long trial at Portsmouth Crown Court (pictured) in January

A court officer said that the prison had been informed and that protocols would be put in place for Ayrton's detention.

Ayrton told the court in her evidence that she had not undergone any physical modifications or taken any medication as part of her gender swap.

The trial heard that she had met up with her victim, who had run away from home, and two friends and had gone drinking in a garage which had a sofa and chairs in it.

They had both been drinking alcohol and the victim said Ayrton held one of her arms while the other was trapped against the back of the sofa

The teen described how she screamed and shouted at Ayrton, who was 23 and called David at the time, to stop but failed to wake up her friend and her boyfriend who were sleeping nearby.

A video played to the jury showed the victim explaining how she shouted at and tried to slap Ayrton, who also 'slobbered on her face' when she tried to kiss her.

Although she denied raping the teenager, Ayrton admitted that the teen and her friends were in the garage with her.

He was kissing my face, slobbering on my face. I couldn't breathe Davina Ayrton's victim

She said she had drunk four cans of Foster's lager but had not had any vodka because she was on benefits at the time and 'didn't have enough money.'

The victim, who is from Portsmouth and cannot be named for legal reasons, said in footage played in court: 'I know it was over quickly but it felt like it was forever.

'He just lay on top of me, it must have been seconds but it felt like it was minutes. He just sat up as if it was nothing.'

She added that she couldn't breathe when Ayrton tried to kiss her.

She said: 'I'm sure there was a point I went to slap him but I couldn't move my arm.I said get off me. I said it three or four times. It was more his weight on me at that point.

'That's when he was kissing my face, slobbering on my face. I couldn't breathe.'

She also said Ayrton had medium-length greasy hair at the time of the attack. After the rape, the victim did not want to move and only told a handful of people about it.

A friend of the victim told the court she was 'vulnerable' at the time of the attack.

The court was also told that Ayrton, who has a son, was convicted of possessing indecent images of children at Bournemouth Crown Court in January 2014.

When her defence barrister Ann-Marie Talbot asked her why she had entered guilty pleas to these charges, she replied: 'Because I was guilty of them.'