Rapist wins payout after rights case

A FUN-FAIR worker who raped a teenager after forcing her to drink alcohol won damages yesterday after a European court ruled his human rights had been breached.

Samuel Betteridge, 58, from Mablethorpe, Lincolnshire, was jailed after he pleaded guilty at Lincoln Crown Court in 2005.

But the 13-month delay between the end of his minimum term and his first parole hearing was a breach of his right to a speedy hearing, the European Court of Human Rights found.

It ordered the British Government to pay Betteridge €750 (£640) in damages.