A MAN has been jailed for life after admitting to sexual offences which took place more than 20 years ago just over the border in Wales, police said.

Jason Pettit, 49, was a serving prisoner when he made admissions to committing rape and false imprisonment in Brecon in the 1990s, which had never been reported to police, a police spokesperson said.

The information was passed from prison staff to Dyfed-Powys Police, who launched an investigation to find the victim.

Detective Constable Adam Clark, who led the investigation, said: "This was an unusual case, as we were notified of the offences by colleagues in another force.

"The offender was already in prison when he asked to be interviewed as he wanted to confess to a crime.

"It was during this interview that he admitted to a number of very serious offences around the country, one of which took place in Brecon some years ago.

"We began making inquiries to find out who the victim was, and how we could make contact with her."

A record was found of an incident between Pettit and a woman in Brecon in 1996 but no reports of sexual offences were believed to have been made to police.

The victim was living in another part of the force area and a plan was put in place to speak to her.

"We needed to approach the victim extremely carefully and sensitively," Det Con Clark said.

"Our priority was to put the victim first and ensure the right support was in place for her, as it wasn't clear what the offender's motives were in suddenly admitting to these offences."

The woman stated she was raped on several occasions between 20 and 30 years ago but had never reported it to police.

"It was clear that the victim was apprehensive about speaking to us, but she confirmed that she had been raped and kept locked in a house, which she never reported through fear of the offender," Det Con Clark said.

Pettit was charged with rape, false imprisonment and indecent assault and pleaded guilty at Merthyr Crown Court.

He was sentenced to life imprisonment and ordered to serve a minimum of seven years in custody.

Det Con Clark said: "Pettit is a highly dangerous man, who not only caused physical harm to the victim, but decades of emotional trauma.

"We are pleased with the sentence he has received and hope it will go some way to assure the victim that justice has been served after all these years.

"It is completely understandable that victims feel apprehensive about approaching police to disclose offences, however we would like to assure that there are many support services that can help you through the investigation and criminal justice process.

"I would like to thank the victim in this case for having the strength to talk about incidents that happened over 20 years ago. Her courage has helped to keep a dangerous offender in prison for a significant length of time."