A teenage boy has been sentenced to nine years in prison for the rape of an 11-year-old girl in a supermarket.

The boy, who is 15 and cannot be named for legal reasons, was jailed today at Coventry Crown Court after admitting the rape and four other sexual crimes. He received a 30 per cent discount on his sentence because he admitted the offences.

"Despite his age, the offender is a dangerous individual who was motivated by his sexual desires and who had no thought for the little girl, who he subjected to a terrifying ordeal," said Detective Chief Inspector Adrian Pearson of Warwickshire Police.

"One moment his victim was shopping with her mum in what she felt to be a safe environment, and the next she was being brutally attacked."

The 10-minute attack took place in the toilets of a Sainsbury’s supermarket in Leamington Spa, Warwickshire, on March 2. Police were shocked by the brazen nature of the crime. The girl, who also cannot be named, had met her mother to carry on shopping after an "explore and learn" school trip to the store.

The girl's 44-year-old mother said today that her daughter had lost her confidence and trust of people since the attack and praised her for her bravery. The girl reported the attack immediately, saying a man had done "naughty things" to her and then spotted the rapist twice in the streets of Leamington Spa after her ordeal, helping the police track him down.

The victim, who has two older brothers, has now returned to school, achieved her predicted grades in exams and is, according to her mother, "coping in her own little way".

"She was bubbly, had a nice personality, outgoing, friendly, with lots of confidence. She would go anywhere, do anything on her own," the girl's mother said. "Now she’s different, she’s lost her confidence. She’s not as bubbly and outgoing as she used to be. She’s lost her trust of people.

"We take her most places now. She still has to be taken to the toilet. She doesn’t like coming out of small rooms, she still has nightmares, but not as many as she used to. It’s going to be a long, slow process."

Recalling the moment her daughter approached her in the supermarket after the attack today, the girl's mother said she felt guilty and remembered being unable to believe what had happened.

"I didn’t believe what she said to me. It was like I was in denial," she said.

"She was upset, very distressed and she started shouting it out in the shop to me and I thought ’I have to start to listen’. She was saying ’someone in the toilet has done naughty things to me’. She was crying and very white.

"You blame yourself to a certain degree and I am more careful now. I see parents and their kids saying ’I want to go to the toilet’ and them saying ’off you go’ and I want to stop them and say ’don’t let them go’."

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